title: Assessing the utility of a mutational assay for B-RAF as an adjunct to conventional fine needle aspiration of the thyroid gland.
abstract: Thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine malignancy; it is typified by a number of classical genomic insults, which tend to cluster with the discrete histologic subtypes. The most common of these is a mutation in B-RAF, which is present in approximately 44% (29% to 83%) of cases. In this review we have assessed the potential utility of a molecular test for somatically acquired mutations in B-RAF using thyroid malignancy as a model system according to 3 fundamental questions: would a test enhance our ability to distinguish benign from malignant, would a test unveil a risk factor not otherwise known, and would detecting a mutation enable a therapeutic option specific to those patients who carry the mutation?
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, USA.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Tetzlaff
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: LiVolsi
authors.forename: Zubair W
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Baloch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000601:surgery; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf