We investigated the impact of epidermal growth factor receptor content, p53 status and mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling status on ZD1839 sensitivity in a panel of human tumour cell lines: seven head and neck cancer cell lines and two colon cancer cell lines (LoVo, HT29) with derivatives differing only by a specific modification in p53 status (LoVo p53 wt + p53 mut cells, HT29 p53 mut + p53 wt rescued cells). The gene discussed is EGFR; the disease is head and neck cancer.