Cetuximab binds to the extracellular domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which inhibits the RAS–RAF–mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) and the v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1 (AKT1) axis, the pathways involved in cell proliferation, cell survival and tumour invasion5. Here, MAPK1 is linked to neoplasm.