PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mulcahy, H E
AU  - Lyautey, J
AU  - Lederrey, C
AU  - qi Chen, X
AU  - Anker, P
AU  - Alstead, E M
AU  - Ballinger, A
AU  - Farthing, M J
AU  - Stroun, M
TI  - A prospective study of K-ras mutations in the plasma of pancreatic cancer patients.
DP  - 1998 Feb 01
TA  - Clinical Cancer Research
PG  - 271--275
VI  - 4
IP  - 2
4099  - http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/4/2/271.short
4100  - http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/4/2/271.full
SO  - Clin Cancer Res1998 Feb 01; 4
AB  - K-ras mutations are frequently found in primary pancreatic adenocarcinomas. In this prospective study, we looked for K-ras mutations in the plasma of patients with pancreatic cancer. We isolated plasma DNA from 21 pancreatic cancer patients using a simple and rapid extraction technique and detected K-ras alterations with a PCR assay and subsequent product sequencing. Patients were followed up to determine their clinical outcome. We found K-ras mutations in the plasma of 17 patients (81%). In cases in which both plasma and pancreatic tissue were available, DNA mutations were similar in corresponding plasma and tissue samples. Plasma DNA alterations were found 5-14 months before clinical diagnosis in four patients. Mutant DNA was not found in the plasma of two patients with chronic pancreatitis or in five healthy controls. Our results indicate that K-ras mutations are often found in DNA isolated from the plasma of pancreatic cancer patients and that a noninvasive plasma-based assay may provide qualitative diagnostic information to clinicians in the future. Larger studies are required to further assess the relevance of our findings to clinical practice.