Relationship between K-ras oncogene mutations in portal vein blood of patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastases

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Objective To detect mutations of K-ras oncogene in portal vein blood of patients with colorectal cancer, and to find out the relationship between mutated K-ras oncogene and liver metastases in colorectal cancer. Methods Forty-eight patients with colorectal cancer were screened for the mutations of K-ras oncogene in tissue samples from their tumors, portal vein blood, proximally adjacent mucosa and 8metastatic liver biopsies by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing. The results were analyzed with their clinical data. Results Sixteen of the 48 patients with colorectal cancer had K-ras point mutations at codon 12 in their portal vein blood, and 17 of 48 patients had K-ras mutations in their primary tumors, but only 4 of 48 patients had K-ras mutations in proximally adjacent mucosa. There was no significant difference in rate of K-ras mutation between tumor tissues and portal vein blood (P ＞ 0. 05 ), but significant difference was found between the tumor tissue and the proximally adjacent mucosa ( P ＜0. 05 ). The rate of K-ras mutations in portal vein blood of colorectal cancer with liver metastases (70. 0% ) was higher than that of without liver metastases (23.7%). Sixteen cases of mutated K-ras in portal vein blood showed mutations in tumor tissues. Patients without mutated K-ras in tumor tissue had no mutations in their portal vein blood and proximally adjacent mucosa. In 5 of 8 patients with simultaneous liver metastasis, mutated K-ras oncogenes were detected in portal vein blood, and the type of K-ras mutation detected in the tumor tissue was accord with that in metastatic liver biopsies. Two patients with mutated K-ras detected in their portal vein blood had no liver metastases during perioperation, but liver metastases were diagnosed by CT at the postoperative month 6 and 9 respectively. The main types of K-ras mutations at codon 12 included GGT to GAT and GGT to GTT. No one had point mutation at codon 13. Conclusion Mutated K-ras detected in both cancer tissue and portal vein blood may indicate livermetastases from colorectal cancer. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms; Ras gene; Mutation; Hepatic metastasis