Analysis of mutational spectra in metastatic colorectal carcinoma: KRAS as an indicator of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy

Objective: Mutation spectra in colorectal cancer with metastasis and its response to chemotherapy. Summary of Background Data: No molecular markers are available for selecting the optimal chemotherapeutic regimen (irinotecan or oxaliplatin) for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Methods: We enrolled 161 mCRC patients who underwent surgery for their primary tumors at Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 2004 to 2010. The prevalence of gene mutations was measured and correlated with responses to different cytotoxic agents. Results: We detected 1,836 mutations in 12 genes. KRAS mutants affected 44.3% of the tumors. The rate of good response was insignificantly higher for patients with KRAS mutant tumors who received oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy compared with patients with KRAS wild-type tumors (65.6% versus 47.0%; P ¼ 0.15). For patients who received irinotecan-based chemotherapy, the rate of good response was similar in patients with wild-type (55.0%; n ¼ 11) and those with KRAS mutant tumors (54.5%; n ¼ 12; P ¼ 1). In patients with KRAS mutant tumors treated with an oxaliplatin-based regimen, the overall survival was 38.5 months (95% CI: 26.6–50.5 months), which was insignificantly better than that for patients treated with an irinotecan-based regimen (30.4 months; 95% CI: 15.8–45.1 months; P ¼ 0.206). Conclusions: Our data could not come to the conclusion that patient with KRAS mutation mCRC may have better response with oxaliplatin-based first-line chemotherapy. Further study is needed to confirm the relationship between gene mutation and chemotherapy response.