Abstract
Anti-EGFR antibody drugs for colorectal cancer are ineffective for tumors with KRAS gene mutation. Thus, a KRAS gene test is needed to select patients to be treated. However, gene tests require advanced techniques and, therefore, are often outsourced. Hospital tests that facilitate the rapid determination of therapeutic strategies are needed. Thus, in the present study, an automated KRAS gene test combining automated DNA purification equipment and a gene analyzer was examined. The outsourced test required about seven days, while the automated method required only one day to yield results. A manual method required about 35 min, whereas the automated method required about 7 min. The results using the automated method were consistent with those of the outsourced test. Two wild-type cases identified using other methods were determined to be mutants by the manual method. Thus, the automated KRAS gene test could be conducted by limited hospital staff in the pathology department and can effectively generate consistent results.
