Abstract C095: KRAS mutation subtypes are associated with clinical and phenotypic differences in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Authors: Xiao Alexander , Korleski Jack , Carr Ryan 
Published: January 2024

Background: KRAS is a significant driver gene for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and is present in up to 90% of PDAC cases. KRAS mutant (mt) PDAC tends to have worse prognosis compared to KRAS wild-type (wt) PDAC. However, the clinical and biological impact of the KRAS mutation subtypes (e.g. G12D, G12R, G12V, G12C and Q61) remains unclear. We sought to explore the clinical and molecular characteristics of the KRAS mt subtypes. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients with KRAS mt PDAC who underwent next generation sequencing at our institution from December 1, 2018 to December 1, 2021. We collected patient demographics, disease characteristics, clinical outcomes, DNA and RNA sequencing results via chart review. Bulk RNA-seq was performed via Tempus and The Cancer Genome Atlas. Count data were processed and separated by KRAS mutation subtype using a custom python script. Differential gene expression was performed using the DifSeq2 R package. Results: A total of 158 KRAS mt patients (at diagnosis, average age 63.8 years, 57% male, 88 (56%) Stage IV) were included. 10% of patients had KRAS Q61 mutation, 14% G12R, 30% G12V and 46% G12D; only 1.1% had the potentially actionable G12C mutation. G12R had a longer overall survival (OS) compared to the others (median 24.8 vs 17.5 months (m), p=0.05). Among patients with de novo metastatic disease, G12V had the lowest OS (median 9.8 vs 12.4 m, p=0.02). Between the KRAS mt subtypes, there were no statistically significant differences in tumor mutation burden, location of PDAC or subsequent metastasis, lines of treatment (average 2.3), age at diagnosis, gender, or stage at diagnosis. One hundred thirty-seven (87%) patients had at least one pathogenic somatic variant, 14 of which had statistically significant differences between KRAS mt subtypes. 82 (52%) patients had at least one RNA expression variant and bulk RNA-seq showed that each KRAS G12 mutation subtype had unique gene expression patterns, including several oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Conclusions: Our data suggest that KRAS mt subtypes may confer different clinically significant phenotypes of PDAC. We found G12R to be associated with improved prognosis compared to other KRAS mt subtypes and that among patients with de novo metastatic disease, G12V had the worst prognostic implication. As there were no statistically significant differences in patient demographics between the KRAS mt subtypes, we hypothesize survival differences are driven by biological phenotype. This is supported by our RNA-seq findings, which demonstrated unique gene expression patterns for each KRAS mt subtype.

Citation Format: Alexander Xiao, Jack Korleski, Ryan Carr. KRAS mutation subtypes are associated with clinical and phenotypic differences in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Pancreatic Cancer; 2023 Sep 27-30; Boston, Massachusetts. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(2 Suppl):Abstract nr C095.