title: Clinical significance of BRAF gene mutations in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  V-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) mutations are attractive molecular targets for cancer treatment. Detection of BRAF gene mutation and analyses in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are of great scientific interest.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 581 NSCLC patients (377 males, 204 female) undergoing pulmonary resection. BRAF gene mutations were screened using the PCR-SSCP method and were confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. Mutations of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), v-erb-b2 erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2 (ERBB2), and v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) gene were also analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five patients (0.8%) had BRAF mutations within exon 15. In 581 NSCLC patients, EGFR gene mutations within exons 18 to 21 were detected in 191 (32.8%) patients, KRAS codon 12 mutations in 56 (9.6%) patients, and ERBB2 codon 20 mutations in 11 (1.8%) patients. All mutations were mutually exclusive. The NSCLC patients with BRAF mutations were proved to be men who were heavy smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PCR-SSCP analysis of BRAF exon 15 in NSCLC patients without other gene mutations may be sufficient to identify candidates for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sonobe
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Ryutaro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okubo
authors.forename: Cheng-Long
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Date
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D003062:Codon; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018734:Genes, erbB-2 / Q000235:genetics; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf