Abstract 2121: High-resolution melting for detection of KRAS and EGFR mutations in tumors of the alimentary system

The EGFR/Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway is one of the most important signal transduction pathways in cells. Dysregulation of this pathway is a common event in many cancers, including cancers of the alimentary system. EGFR and KRAS are two common genes in which mutations caused abnormal activation of the pathway. EGFR mutations are closely associated with a favorable response to treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. KRAS mutations are associated with unresponsiveness to EGFR inhibitors. EGFR and KRAS mutation detection is important for carcinogenesis research and clinical therapy. Tumor tissue samples included 13 esophagus cancer, 52 gastric cancer and 67 colon cancer from a Chinese population. These were obtained from Dalian Medical University collection. High resolution melting (on a LightScanner™) was used to scan the mutations of KRAS exon 2, EGFR exon 19 and exon 21. All mutations detected by HRM were sequenced to identify the genotype. We found KRAS mutations in 5 (9.6%) patients with gastric cancer (2 with G12D; 1 with G12V; 2 with G13D) and 19 (28.4%) patients with colon cancers (11 with G12D, 3 with G12V, 4 with G13D; 1 with G13V). No KRAS mutations were found in esophagus cancer patients. The frequency of KRAS mutations in colon cancer was significantly higher than those in esophagus and gastric cancer (P Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2121.