Clinical and Molecular Characteristics of KRAS Codon-Specific Mutations in Advanced Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma with Prognostic and Therapeutic Implications

KRAS mutations occur in over 90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs), most commonly at codon 12, but the clinical implications of codon-specific subtypes in advanced disease remain unclear. We retrospectively analyzed 269 patients with advanced PDAC who underwent next-generation sequencing between 2020 and 2024 at a single tertiary cancer center. Clinical features, co-mutations, treatment outcomes, and survival were evaluated. KRAS mutations were detected in 92% of patients, most frequently G12V (36%) and G12D (34%), followed by G12R (10%) and non-G12 variants (9%). TP53 was the most frequent co-mutation (67%) and was significantly enriched in G12D tumors compared with wild type (74.2% vs. 31.8%). Mutations in homologous recombination and DNA damage response genes were more common in non-G12 and wild-type tumors, although not statistically significant. Serum CA 19-9 was elevated in most G12-mutant tumors, whereas approximately 40% of non-G12 and wild-type patients showed normal levels despite advanced disease. No significant survival differences were observed among KRAS subtypes in the overall or treated cohorts. However, patients with G12V mutations achieved significantly longer survival with fluorouracil-based than gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. These findings suggest that, while KRAS subtyping alone lacks prognostic value, the G12V subtype may inform chemotherapy selection and warrants further prospective validation.