The point mutations of the K-ras gene occur in as high as 70-90% of the cases with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and apparently represent one of the key and early events in the carcinogenesis.
Impact of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase mutations, EGFR gene amplifications, and KRAS mutations on survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Switch in KRAS mutational status during an unusual course of disease in a patient with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma: implications for translational research.
The findings support the feasibility of K-ras-2 topographic genotyping to identify potentially indolent disease and suggest a potentially useful role in the preoperative evaluation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
We examined surgically resected formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue blocks for the presence of activating point mutations at codon 12 and 13 of the K-ras gene.
In summary, KRASG12C mutations, TTF-1, and napsin A were associated with primary lung adenocarcinoma, whereas KRASG12R mutations, CK20, and CDX2 favored pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Here we report increased expression of the putative pancreatic stem cell marker DCAMKL-1 in an established KRAS transgenic mouse model of pancreatic cancer and in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Mutations in codon 12 of the K-ras gene were examined by mutant allele-specific amplification method using DNA extracted from surgical specimens and plasma samples of 21 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
In several cases using the mutations of K-ras gene as a marker, this analysis supplemented conventional pathology and cytology in making the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Targeting of KRAS to treat pancreatic adenocarcinoma has been applied at different stages of RAS molecular intracellular processes: at the transcription level with antisense or interference RNA, at the posttranslational level with inhibitors of farnesyl transferase or anti-RAS vaccination peptides, and to target multiple signalling pathways using inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase, phosphoinositide 3-kinase, AKT, mammalian target of rapamycin, RAF.
These findings suggest that detection of K-ras gene mutations in lymph nodes may be clinically useful to assess the accurate tumor staging and to stratify the patient with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who are at high or low risk for recurrence after curative surgery.
The K-ras gene mutation has been shown in 17 (73,9%) cases with pancreatic adenocarcinoma which was significantly more often than in chronic pancreatitis - 9 (42,8%) (p<0,01).
We, therefore, investigated if analysis for mutant kras gene in the EUS-FNAC aspirates supplements cytopathology for the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC).
Mutation of the K-ras gene is an early event in the development of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and, therefore, RNA interference (RNAi) directed toward mutant K-ras could represent a novel therapy.
LigAmp quantification of mutant KRAS2 in pancreatic juice differentiates pancreatic adenocarcinoma from chronic pancreatitis, and may be a useful early detection tool for pancreatic cancer.