Not all RAS mutations created equal: Functional and clinical characterization of 80 different KRAS and NRAS mutations.

3589 Background: Mutations (mts) in RAS predict lack of response to anti-EGFR therapy in colorectal cancer. Outside the “typical RAS” mts ( KRAS/NRAS Codons 12, 13, 59, 61, 117, 146) cited in guidelines and anti-EGFR labeling, clinical impact of other “atypical RAS” mts is uncertain. Methods: Available literature and databases were surveyed to identify 80 KRAS/NRAS mts. We used the NovellusDx Functional Annotation for Cancer Treatment (FACT) to transfect these RAS mts (repeated a mean of 5.5 times/mt) in a cell-based assay that quantifies nuclear ERK localization as a measure of MAPK pathway activation, and normalized to wild type (WT) transfection. In 963 metastatic colorectal cancer patients (pts) with BRAF WT/ KRAS mutant tumors, overall survival (OS) was evaluated by level of RAS signaling activity. Results: Of the surveyed mutations,96% (45/47) of typical mts and 39% (13/33) of atypical mts increased MAPK pathway activation above WT (range: 107%-211% of WT activity). Within the typical RAS mts, mts in NRAS or exon 3, 4 of KRAS had higher activity than mts in exon 2 (codons 12/13) of KRAS, reaffirming the biologic relevance of expanded RAS testing (median activity of 130% vs 178%, P < 0.001). The median activity of atypical RAS mts was lower than typical RAS mts (110% vs 159%, P < 0.001). Several notable exceptions in atypical RAS mts with high activity levels were KRAS V14I, Q22K, D33E, N116S, and F156L (all > 165% of WT activity). Conversely, within the typical RAS mts in the guidelines, KRAS G13C and K117R were not shown to increase activity significantly above WT. Pts with any RAS mt with MAPK activity above the median of typical mts had a worse OS compared to pts below the median in univariate (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.04-2.32, P = 0.033) and multivariate models (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.13-3.42, P = 0.017) that controlled for age, gender, sidedness, and synchronous vs metachronous presentation. Conclusions: Functional characterization confirmed activity of RAS mts in the current guidelines, but also suggested that a subset of atypical RAS mutations have similar levels of activation of the MAPK pathway. Within the subset of pts with RAS mts, those mts resulting in high MAPK activity are associated with notably shorter OS.