%0 Journal Article
%T Frequency and Spectrum of KRAS Mutations in Moroccan Patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma
%A Ibrahim Elghissassi
%A Hanane Inrhaoun
%A Anwar Boukir
%A Fouad Kettani
%A Lamia Gamra
%A Amina Mestari
%A Lamia Jabri
%A Youssef Bensouda
%A Hind Mrabti
%A Hassan Errihani
%J ISRN Oncology
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/192493
%X Background. In lung adenocarcinoma, the frequency of KRAS mutations is ethnicity dependent with a higher proportion in African Americans and white Caucasians than in Asians. The prevalence of these mutations among North Africans patients is unknown. The objective of this study was to report the frequency and spectrum of KRAS mutations in a group of Moroccan lung adenocarcinoma patients. Methods. Tumor specimens from 117 Moroccan patients with lung adenocarcinoma were selected to determine frequency and spectrum of KRAS mutations. KRAS mutations in codons 12 and 13 of exon 2 were analyzed using conventional DNA sequencing. Results. The overall frequency of the KRAS mutations was 9% (11/117). In the population with KRAS mutations, there was a trend towards more male ( ) and more smokers ( ) compared to patients with wild type KRAS. KRAS mutations were located at codon 12 in 10 out of 11 patients (91%). The G12C mutation was the most frequent KRAS mutation (73%). Conclusion. This is the first study to date examining the frequency and spectrum of KRAS mutations in lung adenocarcinomas in North African and Arab populations. KRAS mutation frequency in Moroccan patients was comparable with the frequency observed in East-Asian population. KRAS mutations are more likely observed in males and smokers and to be transversions. Further studies, in larger numbers of patients, are needed to confirm these findings. 1. Introduction Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in Morocco and in the world and is the leading cause of cancer mortality in both males and females [1, 2]. During the last few years, improvement in the knowledge of lung cancer molecular biology led to identification of several biological events crucial for tumor cell survival. In nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), one of the most commonly genetic aberrations is conversion of the protooncogene KRAS to its activated oncogenic form. KRAS encodes low molecular weight GTPase binding proteins that regulate cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Mutations of KRAS are associated with impaired GTPase activity, causing increased mitogenic RAS signaling [3]. Mutations in KRAS gene occur more frequently (20¨C30%) in adenocarcinoma and less frequently (about 7%) in squamous-cell carcinoma and are usually associated with a history of smoking [4]. The incidence of KRAS mutation is ethnicity dependent with a higher proportion in African Americans and white Caucasians (20¨C30%) than in Asians (5¨C20%) [5¨C7]. However, such information is still lacking in some other races, such as North African patients.
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.oncology/2014/192493/