Why do patients with colon cancer need to undergo K-ras gene testing

The incidence of colon cancer in my country is increasing at an average rate of about 4% per year, which poses a serious threat to human health. Currently, the treatment of colon cancer is mainly surgical treatment, supplemented by comprehensive treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Accurate diagnosis is the prerequisite for the treatment of colon cancer. At present, doctors often recommend K-ras gene testing for colon cancer patients, which makes patients still wonder, what is the relationship between colon cancer and K-ras gene?

To put it in a more vivid way, the K-ras gene is like a "switch" in the body. The normal K-ras gene (wild type) can inhibit the growth of tumor cells, but once mutated, it will continue to stimulate cell growth, leading to the occurrence of tumors. The purpose of K-ras gene testing is to allow doctors to understand the oncogene status of colon cancer patients in the most direct and effective way. It can screen out colon cancer patients who are effective in anti-EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) targeted drug treatment, realize individualized treatment of tumor patients, thereby achieving a good prognosis and prolonging the patient's survival.

Not only that, even for patients who have just had the primary lesion of the colon removed, since most patients will experience recurrence and metastasis within 5 years, the risk of recurrence and metastasis is higher in the later the stage of the disease. Early detection of K-ras can also understand the patient's risk of recurrence and metastasis and prepare for the best treatment in the future.

The latest survey data on K-ras gene detection in my country shows that about 2/3 are wild type. If K-ras gene detection is done at this time, adding targeted drugs on the basis of chemotherapy can increase the efficacy by about 20%.