Clinical usefulness of KRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA mutations as predictive markers of cetuximab efficacy in irinotecan- and oxaliplatin-refractory Japanese patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

摘要

Background Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies, cetuximab, and panitumumab are established as a new treatment option for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Among activating mutations downstream of EGFR, the KRAS mutation, which is present in 30–45 % of CRC patients, has shown to be a predictive biomarker of resistance to anti-EGFR antibody therapy based on Caucasian studies.