KRAS and BRAF mutational status in colon cancer from Albanian patients

Abstract

Background: Numerous clinical studies have shown that anti-EGFR therapies are effective only in a subset of patients with colorectal cancer. Mutations in the KRAS and BRAF genes have been confirmed as negative predictors of the response to EGFR-targeted therapies. In this study we evaluated KRAS and BRAF status in 159 colorectal cancer samples obtained from the University of Tirana. Methods: We evaluated KRAS mutations in codons 12, 13, 61, 146 and in codon 600 of BRAF by direct sequencing. 90 patients were male (57%) and 69 female (43%); the patients' ages ranged from 17 to 85 (median 61.7). 24 patient were stage I, 36 stage II, 84 stage III and 15 stage IV. Results: Out of the 159 cases, 28 (17,6%) showed KRAS mutation (13 G12D, 4 G12C, 4 G12V, 3 G12A, 2 G13 D, 1 G12S and 1 A146T), and 10 (6,3%) showed BRAF mutation (all V600E). No significant correlations between KRAS and BRAF mutations and various clinicopathological parameters was found. This is the first report of KRAS and BRAF status in Albanian patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and though the relatively small sample size might not provide enough statistics power. Conclusions: The results of KRAS and BRAF mutation analysis could be used in the selection of patients for anti-EGFR therapy.