Frequent KRAS mutation in complex mucinous epithelial lesions of the endometrium

KRAS mutation correlates with mucinous differentiation in various human cancers, and recently, was found in a high proportion of a small cohort of papillary mucinous lesions of the endometrium. In this study, a large number of endometrial mucinous lesions were analyzed for the presence of KRAS mutation along with clinical progression. A total of 45 endometrial biopsy/curettage cases were included in the study and classified into the following categories: simple mucinous change (5 cases), complex mucinous change (33 cases) and mucinous adenocarcinoma (7 cases). Follow-up hysterectomy specimens were available in 14 of 33 patients (42%) with complex mucinous lesions, of which 9 cases (64%) showed atypical complex hyperplasia with an average interval of 21 weeks. None of the 5 cases of simple mucinous change showed KRAS mutation. KRAS mutation was observed in 18 of 33 patients with complex mucinous lesions (55%) and in 6 of 7 cases of mucinous adenocarcinoma (86%). Overall, KRAS mutation has a positive predictive value (PPV) of 88% (7/8 cases) for complex atypical hyperplasia or adenocarcinoma in the follow-up hysterectomy. In conclusion, the current data further emphasizes the architectural complexity as an important prognostic indicator for patients with mucinous endometrial lesions. The presence of KRAS mutation in both mucinous adenocarcinoma and complex mucinous changes indicates that KRAS mutational activation is implicated in the pathogenesis of a significant subset of endometrial mucinous carcinoma. With a high PPV, KRAS mutation analysis may offer an additional discriminatory power to refine risk stratification algorithm for patients with endometrial mucinous lesions.