What Patients With Lung Cancer Need to Know About KRAS G12C Mutations

Knowledge of the KRAS G12C mutations can be very important for patients with lung cancer, as an expert explained in an interview with CURE.

“What it really means is these patients have a mutation that causes KRAS to be an activating mutation,” explained Dr. Alexander Spira. “It's present in about 14% of patients with lung cancer. It matters, because there are now drugs that you can give that will turn that protein off and help kill the cancer cells. Of course, it doesn't kill all of them. Hence, it's not a cure. But this class of drugs, which just developed a few years ago, has really made an advancement for the small but real number of patients.”

Spira is a medical oncologist for Virginia Cancer Specialists and chief scientific officer for NEXT Oncology, sat down for an interview with CURE onsite at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona.

Transcript

Can you explain what KRAS G12C is and why it's an important target for these patients with advanced lung cancer?

KRAS G12C is a [genetic] mutation, and if you think about back to biology, it means a glycine is switched to a cytosine at the in the KRAS protein. It's G12C, the 12th position. That's the science behind it.

But what it really means is these patients have a mutation that causes that KRAS to be an activating mutation. It's present in about 14% of patients with lung cancer. It matters, because then, out there are now drugs that you can give that will turn that protein off and help kill the cancer cells. Of course, it doesn't kill all of them. Hence, it's not a cure. But this class of drugs, which just developed a few years ago, has really made an advancement for the small but real number of patients.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.