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Review Article | Open Access

Mutant KRAS as a critical determinant of the therapeutic response of colorectal cancer

Kyle Knickelbein, Lin Zhang( )
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Departments of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Peer review under responsibility of Chongqing Medical University.

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Abstract

Mutations in the KRAS oncogene represent one of the most prevalent genetic alterations in colorectal cancer (CRC), the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the US. In addition to their well-characterized function in driving tumor progression, KRAS mutations have been recognized as a critical determinant of the therapeutic response of CRC. Recent studies demonstrate that KRAS-mutant tumors are intrinsically insensitive to clinically-used epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting antibodies, including cetuximab and panitumumab. Acquired resistance to the anti-EGFR therapy was found to be associated with enrichment of KRAS-mutant tumor cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of mutant-KRAS-mediated therapeutic resistance has remained unclear. Despite intensive efforts, directly targeting mutant KRAS has been largely unsuccessful. This review summarizes the recent advances in understanding the biological function of KRAS mutations in determining the therapeutic response of CRC, highlighting several recently developed agents and strategies for targeting mutant KRAS, such as synthetic lethal interactions.

Keywords

Targeted therapyColorectal cancerEGFRSynthetic lethalityKRAS

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Genes & Diseases
Volume 2 Issue 1,
January 2015
Pages 4-12
DOI: 10.1016/j.gendis.2014.10.002
Cite this article:
Knickelbein K, Zhang L. Mutant KRAS as a critical determinant of the therapeutic response of colorectal cancer. Genes & Diseases, 2015, 2(1): 4-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gendis.2014.10.002

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Received: 15 October 2014
Accepted: 19 October 2014
Published: 01 November 2014
© 2014, Chongqing Medical University.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
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