Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jul;17 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S31-40.
doi: 10.3747/co.v17is1.614.

KRAS mutation testing in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer with anti-EGFR therapies

D Soulières  1 , W Greer, Anthony M Magliocco, D Huntsman, S Young, M-S Tsao, S Kamel-Reid
Affiliations

KRAS mutation testing in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer with anti-EGFR therapies

D Soulières et al. Curr Oncol. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

Survival of patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) has improved steadily over the past several decades, due largely to the development of new combinations of standard chemotherapy, as well as to the introduction of new targeted therapies. Among the available targeted therapies are two monoclonal antibodies that target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) - cetuximab and panitumumab - which have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of mCRC. These therapies are associated with a unique set of toxicities and costs, prompting the need for tools to select patients who are most likely to derive a benefit from them. Mutations in the KRAS oncogene have consistently been shown to predict non-response to cetuximab and panitumumab. The role of KRAS as a marker of efficacy of anti-EGFR therapies is reviewed.

Keywords: EGFR; KRAS; cetuximab; colorectal carcinoma; genetic testing methods; panitumumab.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Left: the EGFR pathway; Right: inhibition of the EGFR pathway by the EGFR monoclonal antibodies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Canadian Cancer Society’s Steering Committee . Canadian Cancer Statistics 2009. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 2009.
    1. Schrag D. The price tag on progress: chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:317–9. - PubMed
    1. Bokemeyer C, Bondarenko I, Hartmann JT, et al. KRAS status and efficacy of first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with FOLFOX with or without cetuximab: The OPUS experience. J Clin Oncol. 2008;26(May 20 suppl):4000.
    1. Van Cutsem E, Lang I, D’haens G, et al. KRAS status and efficacy in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with FOLFIRI with or without cetuximab: The CRYSTAL experience. J Clin Oncol. 2008;26(May 5 suppl):2.
    1. Khambata-Ford S, Garrett CR, Meropol NJ, et al. Expression of epiregulin and amphiregulin and K-ras mutation status predict disease control in metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with cetuximab. J Clin Oncol. 2007;25:3230–37. - PubMed