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Unraveling cetuximab response in head and neck cancer with APHRODYTHE, a multi-omics patient-derived xenograft platform

GSE317901 Homo sapiens (human) RNA-seq (gene expression) 114 samples Submitted 2026/01/30 Platform GPL20795
At a glance

RNA-seq (gene expression) · human · 114 samples

What it is
RNA-seq (gene expression)Gene activity measured by sequencing. The summary does not mention single-cell work, so this is most likely bulk: one average per sample, the usual starting point for comparing groups.
Organism
Homo sapiens (human)
Topic
Head and neck cancerThis series is part of our curated briefing on it.
Samples
114 samples: 114 samples, each with a distinct title — no replicated groupsGroups are read from the sample names, not from the paper. Check the list below.
Data you can get
A processed table (series matrix) and supplementary files from NCBI; the raw sequencing reads from ENA. Which of these hold counts depends on the study, so check the file list.
Summary (written by the submitters)
The anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab is an established therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), yet robust predictive biomarkers of response remain elusive. To address this gap, we established APHRODYTHE, a resource of 79 HPV-negative HNSCC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), including 61 with genomic annotation, 52 with RNA-seq profiling, and 63 tested with cetuximab in a population-scale preclinical trial.
Read the full summary ↓
APHRODYTHE faithfully recapitulated the mutational, copy number, and transcriptional landscapes of human HNSCC, enabling systematic discovery of response determinants. Integrated multi-omics analyses revealed that tumors with pronounced squamous differentiation and keratinization were more likely to respond, whereas high Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) pathway activity was associated with intrinsic resistance. Cetuximab-sensitive tumors were also enriched for EGFR amplification, elevated EGFR ligand expression, and mutations in NOTCH1, FAT1, and ATM. Immunohistochemistry validated keratinization markers as candidate predictors of benefit with potential clinical applicability. Functionally, SHH pathway activation conferred antibody resistance, while pharmacologic SHH inhibition restored cetuximab sensitivity in resistant models. Together, these findings position APHRODYTHE as a robust translational platform, identify squamous keratinization and SHH activity as complementary biomarkers for patient stratification, and motivate SHH inhibition as a rational combination strategy to enhance cetuximab efficacy in HNSCC.
This dataset
Download · which file do I need?

Direct links to NCBI and ENA, no account and no request form. Pick by what you want to do: take the small processed table to look, the supplementary files to re-analyse, or the original raw data to start over.

1 · Just have a look

Processed table

The series matrix: one table of values per sample as the submitters processed it. The smallest download, and it opens in Excel or R. Start here to see what the data look like.

2 · Re-analyse it

Supplementary files

The count tables and other files the authors uploaded. Take only the samples you need, or the whole study as GSE317901_RAW.tar (it can run to tens of gigabytes).

3 · Start from the raw reads

Raw sequencing reads

The original FASTQ files, straight from the sequencer, held at ENA. Large, and you align them yourself, so only choose this if you need to re-process the study from scratch.

What the files usually look like: For RNA-seq the counts are usually a table among the supplementary files (look for 'counts', 'expression', 'FPKM' or 'TPM' in the file name). The series matrix of a sequencing study is sometimes nearly empty.

Also filed as BioProject PRJNA1415770. Searching any of these in the dataset finder brings you back here.

Study design
114 samples, each with a distinct title — no replicated groups

Any grouping that defines a comparison lives in the sample characteristics, which GEO records separately from the titles.

How we read this: Read from 114 sample titles: 114 distinct titles with little repetition. These groups are guessed from the sample names, not taken from the paper, so check them against the sample list below before relying on them.

Samples in this study

+ 74 more — browse all 114 samples with per-sample file links →

More Head and neck cancer datasets

Search all human RNA-seq datasets in GEO →

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Metadata from NCBI GEO, cached and refreshed periodically — the NCBI page above is authoritative. Downloads link straight to NCBI/ENA; nothing is proxied through BioTransfer.