title: BRAF(V600E) mutation in Turkish patients with papillary thyroid cancer: strong correlation with indicators of tumor aggressiveness.
abstract: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) constitutes more than 90% of the thyroid cancers. MAP kinase/ERK pathway plays an important role in the development of several cancers. BRAF which is a member of Raf-kinase family activates this way. BRAF gene activating mutations lead to neoplastic transformation in thyroid follicle cells. In PTC, this mutation itself is a poor prognostic sign independent of other clinicopathological characteristics. We evaluated BRAF(V600E) mutation and clinical-pathological characteristics in Turkish population with PTC. We assessed 109 patients with PTC (88 female, 21 male). The average age was 38.7 ± 9.9 (17-71). BRAF(V600E) mutation was detected using polymerase chain reaction and fluorescent melting curve analysis. The results show that BRAF(V600E) mutation rate was found in 39.45% of our patients. We observed that BRAF(V600E) mutation was significantly higher in men, in tumors larger than 1 cm in size, and in patients with classical PTC. Moreover, statistically significant correlations of BRAF(V600E) with indicators of tumor aggressiveness such as thyroid capsular invasion, multifocality, lymph node metastasis, and extrathyroidal spread were found. Patient groups below and over the age of 45 did not differ in mutation frequency. Patients with micro-PTC were evaluated separately, it was found that BRAF(V600E) mutation was more frequent in the classic type and that lymph node metastasis rate significantly increased when the mutation was present. We concluded that BRAF(V600E) was correlated with indicators of tumor aggressiveness in our study population. This fact is taken into consideration in treatment and follow-up of our patients with PTC and positive BRAF(V600E) mutation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Acibadem Maslak Hospital, Buyukdere Cad. No: 40, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey. neslihandr@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Neslihan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kurtulmus
authors.forename: Mete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duren
authors.forename: Umit
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ince
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cengiz Yakicier
authors.forename: Onder
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Peker
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.forename: Ender
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Altiok
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giray
authors.forename: Halil
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Azizlerli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D059645:Mutation Rate; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D047368:Tumor Burden; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf