The Presence of Mutations in the K-RAS Gene Does Not Affect Survival after Resection of Pulmonary Metastases from Colorectal Cancer

• Published in: ISRN surgery 2014, Vol.2014, p.157586-7
• Main Authors: Zabaleta, Jon, Aguinagalde, Borja, Izquierdo, José M., Bazterargui, Nerea, Laguna, Stephany M., Martin-Arruti, Maialen, Lobo, Carmen, Emparanza, José I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical Study; Colorectal cancer; Genes; Medical research; Mutation; Studies
• ISSN: 2090-5785; 2090-5793; 2090-5793
• DOI: 10.1155/2014/157586

Introduction. Our objective was to identify mutations in the K-RAS gene in cases of pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer (CRC) and determine whether their presence was a prognostic factor for survival. Methods. We included all patients with pulmonary metastases from CRC operated on between 1998 and 2010. K-RAS mutations were investigated by direct sequencing of DNA. Differences in survival were explored with the Kaplan-Meier method log-rank tests and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results. 110 surgical interventions were performed on 90 patients. Factors significantly associated with survival were disease-free interval ( P = 0.002 ) , age ( P = 0.007 ) , number of metastases ( P = 0.001 ) , lymph node involvement ( P = 0.007 ) , size of the metastases ( P = 0.013 ) , and previous liver metastasis ( P = 0.003 ) . Searching in 79 patients, K-RAS mutations were found in 30 cases. We did not find statistically significant differences in survival ( P = 0.913 ) comparing native and mutated K-RAS. We found a higher rate of lung recurrence ( P = 0.040 ) and shorter time to recurrence ( P = 0.015 ) in patients with K-RAS mutations. Gly12Asp mutation was associated with higher recurrence ( P = 0.022 ) and lower survival ( P = 0.389 ) . Conclusions. The presence of K-RAS mutations in pulmonary metastases does not affect overall survival but is associated with higher rates of pulmonary recurrence.