Background: Serrated adenoma is a new morphological subtype of colorectal adenoma. The lesion provides a distinct morphological route to carcinoma, but the underlying genetic changes have not yet been investigated.
Aims: To determine the frequency of K-ras mutation in serrated adenoma.
Methods: The frequency of K-ras codon 12 point mutation in 20 serrated adenomas, five atypical hyperplastic polyps, and 58 sporadic polypoid adenomas was investigated by nested polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods.
Results: Although most of the serrated adenomas were large (average size 11.4 mm) and polypoid, K-ras codon 12 point mutation was detected in only one of the 20 (5%), which is a significantly lower frequency than that in sporadic polypoid adenomas (18/60; 30%) (p = 0.017). No mutation was detected in the atypical hyperplastic polyps. Three of 20 (15%) serrated adenomas contained a focus of carcinoma in situ, indicating their malignant potential and the existence of a serrated adenoma-carcinoma sequence, but no mutation was detected in the foci of carcinoma in situ.
Conclusions: K-ras mutation is uncommon in serrated adenomas, indicating a different spectrum of genetic alterations in these lesions from those in typical polypoid sporadic adenomas. This subtype of colorectal adenoma represents a new genetic pathway in the histogenesis of colorectal carcinoma.