Title:Overview of Current Immunotherapies Targeting Mutated KRAS Cancers
Volume: 19
Issue: 23
Author(s): Winfrey Pui Yee Hoo, Pui Yan Siak and Lionel L.A. In*
Affiliation:
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, 56000, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
Keywords:
KRAS mutation, Cancer, Immunotherapies, Targeted therapies, Cancer vaccines, RTK.
Abstract: The occurrence of somatic substitution mutations of the KRAS proto-oncogene is highly
prevalent in certain cancer types, which often leads to constant activation of proliferative pathways and
subsequent neoplastic transformation. It is often seen as a gateway mutation in carcinogenesis and has
been commonly deemed as a predictive biomarker for poor prognosis and relapse when conventional
chemotherapeutics are employed. Additionally, its mutational status also renders EGFR targeted therapies
ineffective owing to its downstream location. Efforts to discover new approaches targeting this
menacing culprit have been ongoing for years without much success, and with incidences of KRAS positive
cancer patients being on the rise, researchers are now turning towards immunotherapies as the way
forward. In this scoping review, recent immunotherapeutic developments and advances in both preclinical
and clinical studies targeting K-ras directly or indirectly via its downstream signal transduction
machinery will be discussed. Additionally, some of the challenges and limitations of various K-ras targeting
immunotherapeutic approaches such as vaccines, adoptive T cell therapies, and checkpoint inhibitors
against KRAS positive cancers will be deliberated.
