Treatment of Cultured Sebocytes with an EGFR Inhibitor Does Not Lead to Significant Upregulation of Inflammatory Biomarkers

In a 2011 study by Lee et al., the impact of an EGFR inhibitor (cetuximab) and EGFR ligands (EGF and TGF-alpha) on inflammatory cytokine production in cultured sebocytes was examined. The study employed various methods to measure the expression of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha, PPAR-gamma, and EGFR. Results indicated no significant upregulation of these inflammatory biomarkers when sebocytes were treated with either the EGFR inhibitor or the ligands, except for a notable increase in IL-1 expression in the EGF-treated group. The study concluded that EGFR inhibitors and ligands do not significantly provoke inflammatory biomarker expression in sebocytes, suggesting that further research is needed to understand the role of sebaceous glands in the acneiform eruptions caused by EGFR inhibitors.