K-ras status does not predict successful hepatic resection of colorectal cancer metastasis
W. V. Kastrinakis, N. Ramchurren, M. Maggard, G. Steele Jr and I. C. Summerhayes
Department of Surgery, Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Mass.
OBJECTIVE: To establish whether specific K-ras alterations are predictive
of less aggressive tumor behavior and subsequently those patients who are
most likely to benefit from resection of hepatic metastases from colorectal
carcinoma. DESIGN: Evaluation of long-term survivors of hepatic resection
for metastases of colorectal carcinoma (median survival, 85 months).
RESULTS: DNA, extracted from 26 paraffin-embedded hepatic metastases from
19 patients, was analyzed using single-strand conformation polymorphism and
direct sequence analysis of codons 12 and 13 of the K-ras gene. Seven of 19
patients were found to harbor K-ras mutations. A similar frequency and
spectrum of K-ras mutational events was detected in 14 patients with
short-term survival following pathologic diagnosis of hepatic metastasis.
CONCLUSIONS: Neither the presence of a K-ras mutational event nor the
precise nucleotide change are predictive of less aggressive tumor behavior,
and genetic alterations at this locus alone cannot be used to select
patients undergoing resection of hepatic metastases from colorectal
carcinoma.
