Coexistence of KRAS and BRAF Mutations in Colorectal Cancer: A case report supporting the concept of tumoral heterogeneity

• Published in: Cell Journal
• Main Authors: Pegah Larki, Ehsan Gharib, Mohammad Yaghoob Taleghani, Fatemeh Khorshidi, Ehsan Nazemalhosseini-Mojarad, Hamid Asadzadeh Aghdaei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Royan Institute (ACECR), Tehran 2017-05-01
• Subjects: BRAF; CRC; EGFR; KRAS
• Online Access: http://celljournal.org/journal/article/12070/download

The detection of KRAS and BRAF mutations is a crucial step for the correct therapeutic approach and predicting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapy resistance of colorectal carcinomas. The concomitant KRAS and BRAF mutations occur rarely in the colorectal cancers (CRCs) with the prevalence of less than 0.001% of the cases. In patients with KRAS-mutant tumors, BRAF mutations should not regularly be tested unless the patient is participating in a clinical trial enriching for the presence of KRAS or BRAF-mutated tumor. The current report demonstrates a case with advanced adenocarcinoma of the colon showing the coexistence of KRAS and BRAF mutations and may have profound clinical implications for disease progression and therapeutic responses.