%0 Journal Article %A Zech, Henrike Barbara %A Schafhausen, Philippe %A Ramke, Leonie %A Velthaus, Janna-Lisa %A Kreutzfeldt, Simon %A Hübschmann, Daniel %A Rothkamm, Kai %A Bokemeyer, Carsten %A Hoffmann, Anna Sophie %A Fröhling, Stefan %A Glimm, Hanno %A Betz, Christian Stephan %A Kriegs, Malte %A Christopeit, Maximilian %T Last Resort? Rationale for Comprehensive Molecular Analysis in Treatment-Refractory R/M HNSCC: A Case Report of Remarkable Response to Sacituzumab Govitecan Following Molecular and Functional Characterization. %J Biomedicines %V 13 %N 5 %@ 2227-9059 %C Basel %I MDPI %M DKFZ-2025-01111 %P 1266 %D 2025 %X Background/Objectives: In recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC), the overall prognosis is poor, and systemic treatment options remain limited. While precision therapy approaches have revolutionized treatment strategies in several tumor types, molecularly informed therapies in R/M HNSCC are rare, primarily due to the low number of actionable genetic alterations identified through next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels. There is an urgent need to establish precision therapy approaches in R/M HNSCC using innovative predictive testing. Methods: We report the case of a 43-year-old patient with recurrent oral cancer who was extensively pretreated and comprehensively characterized using both descriptive and functional testing. Results: NGS revealed no targetable alterations. A tumor tissue slice radiosensitivity assay suggested radioresistance, arguing against re-irradiation. Kinome profiling identified upregulated Src-family kinases (SFK), and SFK inhibition reduced kinase activity in vitro. Most notably, mRNA analysis demonstrated high Trop-2 overexpression, confirmed by immunohistochemistry (3+ in 100 %K Sacituzumab govitecan (Other) %K Trop-2 (Other) %K kinome (Other) %K precision medicine (Other) %K recurrent HNSCC (Other) %K tumor models (Other) %K tumor tissue slices (Other) %F PUB:(DE-HGF)16 %9 Journal Article %$ pmid:40427091 %2 pmc:PMC12108840 %R 10.3390/biomedicines13051266 %U https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/301719