AUTHOR=Zhang Zining , Zhang Heng , Liao Xiang , Tsai Hsiang-i 

TITLE=KRAS mutation: The booster of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma transformation and progression

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2023.1147676

DOI=10.3389/fcell.2023.1147676

ISSN=2296-634X

ABSTRACT=<p>Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer. It has a poor response to conventional therapy and has an extremely poor 5-year survival rate. PDAC is driven by multiple oncogene mutations, with the highest mutation frequency being observed in <italic>KRAS</italic>. The KRAS protein, which binds to GTP, has phosphokinase activity, which further activates downstream effectors. <italic>KRAS</italic> mutation contributes to cancer cell proliferation, metabolic reprogramming, immune escape, and therapy resistance in PDAC, acting as a critical driver of the disease. Thus, <italic>KRAS</italic> mutation is positively associated with poorer prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients. This review focus on the <italic>KRAS</italic> mutation patterns in PDAC, and further emphases its role in signal transduction, metabolic reprogramming, therapy resistance and prognosis, hoping to provide <italic>KRAS</italic> target therapy strategies for PDAC<italic>.</italic></p>