Dr. Fakih on RAS Mutations in Colon Cancer

Marwan G. Fakih, MD, professor, director, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, City of Hope, discusses expanding RAS mutation testing for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Recent data have shown that expanding traditional KRAS mutation testing to included broader RAS mutations can better focus treatment with anti-EGFR therapy on a patient population that is most likely to derive benefit, Fakih says.

At the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, there were several presentations supporting expanded testing with data from large analyses. One of these presentations, from study 20050181, reported that patients with traditionally wild-type non-exon 2 KRAS and NRAS mutations (at exons 2, 3, and 4) did not benefit from anti-EGFR therapy with panitumumab.

This study, plus others, represents an overwhelming accumulation of data suggesting that it is necessary to move past traditional KRAS testing for the selection of anti-EGFR therapy in CRC, Fakih believes.