Abstract

Background: Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK. Most bowel cancers are initially treated with surgery, but around 17% spread to the liver. When this happens, sometimes the liver tumour can be treated surgically, or chemotherapy may be used to shrink the tumour to make surgery possible. Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (KRAS) mutations make some tumours less responsive to treatment with biological therapies such as cetuximab. There are a variety of tests available to detect these mutations. These vary in the specific mutations that they detect, the amount of mutation they detect, the amount of tumour cells needed, the time to give a result, the error rate and cost. Objectives: To compare the performance and cost-effectiveness of KRAS mutation tests in differentiating adults with metastatic colorectal cancer whose metastases are confined to the liver and are unresectable and who may benefit from first-line treatment with cetuximab in combination with standard chemotherapy from those who should receive standard chemotherapy alone.

doi.org/10.3310/hta18620, hdl.handle.net/1765/77070
Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM)

Westwood, M., van Asselt, A., Ramaekers, B., Whiting, P., Joore, M., Armstrong, N., … Kleijnen, J. (2014). KRAS mutation testing of tumours in adults with metastatic colorectal cancer: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis. doi:10.3310/hta18620