Colorectal cancer: using blood samples and tumor tissue to detect K-ras mutations. Issue 6 (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Yang; Fu, Xiao-Hong; Yuan, Jin-Qiu; Yang, Zu-Yao; Mao, Chen; Dong, Xiao-Mei; Tang, Jin-Ling; Wang, Sheng-Yong
• Is Part Of: Expert review of anticancer therapy. Volume 15:Issue 6(2015)
• Page Start: 715
• Page End: 725
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: Cancer -- Treatment -- Periodicals; 616.99406
• DOI: 10.1586/14737140.2015.1037836
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-7140

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>We performed a meta-analysis to assess whether blood can be substituted for tumor tissue in <italic>K-ras</italic> mutation testing. PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and BIOSIS databases were searched. Twenty-three studies including 1261 patients were included. The pooled overall sensitivity, specificity, and concordance rate were 0.69 (95% CI: 0.59–0.78), 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93–0.97), and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.82–0.89), respectively. Subgroup analysis indicated that plasma (sensitivity: 0.74; mutation rate: 0.34) exhibited superior sensitivity compared with serum (sensitivity: 0.45; mutation rate: 0.24). We conclude that blood is a suitable substitute for tumor tissue in <italic>K-ras</italic> mutation testing. <italic>K-ras</italic> mutation positivity in blood can be used to identify patients who should not receive EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy, but the absence of blood positivity does not necessarily imply negativity.</p> </abstract>