Latest KRAS Stories

Smoking is a well-known risk factor for lung cancer, but nearly 25% of all lung cancer patients have never smoked. In a study published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have identified a previously unknown gene fusion event that could explain a significant proportion of lung cancer cases in never-smokers, and might serve as a target for new therapies. Recent strides have been made to identify gene mutation events driving cases of lung adenocarcinoma in...

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mira Dx® today notes the publication of breakthrough research showing that the KRAS-variant acts as a biomarker of poor survival and worse response to treatment for patients with ovarian cancer(1). Ovarian cancer patients with the KRAS-variant are twice as likely to die of their ovarian cancer, and three times more resistant to standard platinum chemotherapy compared to ovarian cancer patients who do not carry the variant. The...

Yale Cancer Center researchers have shown that a tiny genetic variation predicts chances of survival and response to treatment for patients with ovarian cancer. The findings, published in the journal Oncogene, provide new insights into the biology of a new class of cancer marker and suggest a genetic test may help guide the treatment of women with ovarian cancer. "This gives us a way to identify which women are at highest risk for resistance to platinum chemotherapy, the standard...

RIDGEFIELD, Conn., Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite guidelines calling for genetic mutation testing in certain patients with lung cancer, three new surveys fielded by Harris Interactive reveal a disconnect in the understanding of and communication about genetic mutation testing among healthcare professionals and cancer patients. Results of the surveys were announced today by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which sponsored the surveys in partnership with the Association of...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved a variation to the marketing authorization for Vectibix® (panitumumab) to include indications for the treatment of patients with wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in first-line in combination with FOLFOX and in second-line in combination with FOLFIRI in patients who have received first-line fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy (excluding...

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have mutations in the KRAS gene should respond well to the antifolate class of drugs, according to results of a recent study conducted by Quintiles comparing human lung cancer cell lines and patients. "Our findings indicate that when patients with lung cancer have specific changes in the KRAS gene, they become very amenable to antifolate drugs," said lead researcher Sarah Bacus, Ph.D., Quintiles senior vice president and chief scientific officer...

SEATTLE, Nov. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Oncothyreon Inc. (Nasdaq: ONTY) today announced the presentation of data from two Phase 1/2 trials of PX-866, an irreversible, pan-isoform phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3K) inhibitor, at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in San Francisco, California. Results presented highlighted findings from the Phase 1 dose-escalation portions of Phase 1/2 trials evaluating PX-866 in combination...

Method can be implemented into routine clinical practice, bringing effective personalized medicine a step closer Researchers in the United States have shown, for the first time, that it is possible to screen cancer patients for a broad range of cancer-causing genetic mutations as part of normal clinical practice. By identifying patients' individual genotypes within a relatively short time frame, doctors are able to target tumors with the most appropriate therapy. The study, which is...

BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Medical Technologies, Inc. (the "Company") (Nasdaq: CMED), a leading China-based advanced in-vitro diagnostic ("IVD") company, today announced that China's State Food and Drug Administration (the "SFDA") has approved the Company's real-time PCR-based V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog ("KRAS") assay (the "PCR KRAS Assay") as a companion diagnostic test for the use of a targeted drug for the treatment of colorectal...

Some cancers can be effectively treated with drugs inhibiting proteins known as receptor tyrosine kinases, but not those cancers caused by mutations in the KRAS gene. A team of researchers led by Jeffrey Engelman, at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, has now identified a potential way to effectively use receptor tyrosine kinases inhibitors to treat individuals with KRAS mutant colorectal cancers — combine them with inhibitors of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway. In cases...