Novel KRAS Gene Mutations in Sporadic Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Our discovery of novel exon 4 KRAS mutations that are, so far, unique to Saudi colorectal cancer patients may be attributed to environmental factors and/or racial/ethnic variations due to genetic differences. Alternatively, it may be related to paucity of clinical studies on mutations other than those in codons 12, 13, 61 and 146. Further KRAS testing on a large number of patients of various ethnicities, particularly beyond the most common hotspot alleles in exons 2 and 3 is needed to assess the prevalence and explore the exact prognostic and predictive significance of the discovered novel mutations as well as their possible role in colorectal carcinogenesis.