Dr. Eng on the Impact of RAS Mutations on Outcomes in Early vs Late CRC Following Liver Resection

Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, FASCO, the David H. Johnson Chair in Surgical and Medical Oncology; co-leader of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Research Program; professor of medicine in hematology and oncology; co-director of GI Oncology; vice chair of the SWOG GI Committee; and director of the VICC Young Adult Cancers Initiative at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discusses the impact of RAS mutations on outcomes in patients with early vs late colorectal cancer (CRC) following liver resection.

In a recently published analysis, RAS mutations in patients with CRC who undergo liver resection was associated with a 58% increase in the likelihood of death, according to Eng. However, when examining patients with early onset and late onset CRC, the significance was even higher in those with early onset disease. This translated to a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.90 in the early onset population vs 1.53 in the late onset population, a significant difference between the 2 groups, Eng says.

Moreover, in patients younger than 40 years of age, the HR was 2.97. However, this could be due, in part, to the cohort's smaller patient population (n = 80), Eng concludes.