Patients with advanced solid cancers (colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer) and any cancer diagnosed with aberrations in one or more the following genes: PTEN, BRAF, KRAS, NRAS, PI3KCA, ErbB1, ErbB2). The gene discussed is NRAS; the disease is familial pancreatic carcinoma.