Wv. Kastrinakis et al., K-RAS STATUS DOES NOT PREDICT SUCCESSFUL HEPATIC RESECTION OF COLORECTAL-CANCER METASTASIS, Archives of surgery, 130(1), 1995, pp. 9-14
Objective: To establish whether specific K-ras alterations are predict
ive of less aggressive turner behavior and subsequently those patients
who are most likely to benefit from resection of hepatic metastases f
rom colorectal carcinoma. Design: Evaluation of long-term survivors of
hepatic resection for metastases of colorectal carcinoma (median surv
ival, 85 months). Results: DNA, extracted from 26 paraffin-embedded he
patic metastases from 19 patients, was analyzed using single-strand co
nformation polymorphism and direct sequence analysis of codons 12 and
13 of the K-ras gene. Seven of 19 patients were found to harbor K-uas
mutations. A similar frequency and spectrum of K-uas mutational events
was detected in 14 patients with shortterm survival following patholo
gic diagnosis of hepatic metastasis. Conclusions: Neither the presence
of a K-vas mutational event nor the precise nucleotide change are pre
dictive of less aggressive tumor behavior, and genetic alterations at
this locus alone cannot be used to select patients undergoing resectio
n of hepatic metastases from colorectal carcinoma.