Global Experts Convene in Barcelona to Advance KRAS Cancer Research

Barcelona is hosting the KRAS Think Tank Meeting this Thursday, May 22nd, bringing together around 100 researchers from different countries who are experts in the KRAS oncogene.

Four decades have passed since its identification, and much research remains. The experts will share the latest advances and findings on this gene, which is mutated in various types of cancer and of great interest as a therapeutic target.

KRAS Think Tank Highlights Emerging Therapies and Research Gaps in Cancer Treatment

The initiative was initiated by Dr. Rafael Rosell, general coordinator of the KRAS Think Tank Meeting , president of the IOR Foundation, and an international expert on KRAS in lung cancer. “Ninety-nine percent of oncologists in any country don’t know what YAP 1 (yes-associated protein 1), MRAS, or SHOC2 are, which are quite essential genes, and yet they don’t know them. They also don’t know how metabolic reprogramming occurs in tumor cells,” said Dr. Rosell.

Dr. Rafael Rosell: “Ninety-nine percent of oncologists in any country don’t know what YAP 1, MRAS, or SHOC2 are, which are quite essential genes, and yet they don’t know about them.”
“At these types of meetings, we can highlight and discuss aspects of cancer cell biology that are familiar to researchers but not yet to the medical community. There are many genes, of great importance in the field of research, that may have clinical applications,” he added.

The KRAS gene is mutated in 90-95% of pancreatic cancer cases , 40-45% of colorectal cancer cases, and 25-30% of lung cancer cases, the latter where the most common mutation is KRASG12C. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most complex cancers, and there is still much to research. “The situation is still an immense ocean of ignorance that cannot be resolved with artificial intelligence (AI) . We need to deepen our knowledge, and that is why we have provided a space for pancreatic cancer with Dr. Barbacid,” said Dr. Rosell.

A recent breakthrough in this cancer, which in a high percentage of cases does not respond to selective KRAS inhibitors , has been published in Cancer Research . According to this study, administering a RAS pathway inhibitor and also blocking a protein called PIKfyve slows the cellular recycling process (autophagy) that allows cells to escape treatment. This synergistic action can enhance the effect of other therapies targeting the same cancer pathway and opens the door to more effective therapeutic combinations for these tumors.

In lung cancer, KRAS gene mutations have been found in 95% of smokers at the time of lung adenocarcinoma diagnosis, or in ex-smokers with a long and heavy smoking history who smoked an average of half a pack or a pack of cigarettes per day and who quit smoking between five and fifteen years ago.

“Tobacco contains many carcinogens and is the main cause of lung cancer. We have observed mutations in KRAS, empirically or epidemiologically, in the tissue and blood of patients who have been smokers , but we cannot extend this statement to cases of lung cancer caused by carcinogens from air pollution or environmental factors. In smokers, these mutations are quite common and never appear alone, but rather alongside others such as p53 and others ,” explains Dr. Rosell.

“We know that not all lung tumors with KRAS mutations are sensitive, that is, respond to a treatment directed against KRAS. In fact, only 30% of cell lines with this mutation show sensitivity . That’s why we’re investigating why some tumors respond from the start and others don’t: we’re analyzing other alterations or tumor signaling pathways that could act as alternative routes (bypasses) and thus promote the growth of cells that depend on the KRAS mutation ,” explains Dr. Rosell.

In colon cancer, mutations in the KRAS gene have been identified in preneoplastic lesions , indicating that these genetic alterations are present in very early stages of the transformation of healthy tissues into malignancy.

The meeting, conceived as a high-level, multidisciplinary scientific gathering for expert audiences from the medical-scientific community, was organized by the IOR Foundation and will be held in a hybrid format: in-person, based at the Dexeus University Hospital, and online. It will feature speakers researching KRAS from a variety of disciplines, including medical oncology, biochemistry, molecular biology, genomics, immunology, and applied AI, and from institutions located in Shanghai, New York, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Greece, and Spain, among other countries.

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(Featured image by Sangharsh Lohakare via Unsplash)

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First published in iSanidad. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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