KRAS sequence variation as prognostic marker in patients with early- onset versus late-onset colorectal cancer

It is not known how the prognostic profile of KRAS sequence variation compares between patients with early-onset (diagnosed before age 50 years) and late-onset (age 50 years or higher) colorectal cancer. A cross-sectional study using data from the SEER database on 21,661 patients with colorectal cancer found that KRAS sequence variation was associated with worse survival compared with KRAS wild-type in patients with young- and late-onset cancer. The median cause-specific survival for KRAS variant versus KRAS wild-type was 3.0 versus 3.5 years in young-onset and 2.5 versus 3.4 years in late-onset cancer. The authors conclude that these findings may provide additional clarity into the association between KRAS sequence variants and clinical outcomes and between KRAS status and age of colorectal cancer onset.