title: Association between BRAF V600E mutation and regional lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  BRAF V600E is the most frequent genetic alteration in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC); there are ongoing conflicts on its association with regional lymph node metastasis. And we aimed to test this association in a referred sample in a single institute in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed BRAF V600E mutational status in the primary lesion of 150 PTC cases in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) and their corresponding lymph node metastasis (if present and available) using a validated Amplification Refractory Mutation System Polymerase Chain Reaction (ARMS-PCR) method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 150 PTC cases, 121 (80.6%) primary tumors harbored BRAF V600E mutation, 66.9% (81/121) and 79.3% (23/29) had regional lymph node metastasis (LNM) in cases detected with and without BRAF V600E mutation, respectively (P = 0.195). The BRAF V600E mutational status of most of the metastatic lesions was not different to that of their primary foci (73 out of 76 cases, 96.1%, Kappa value = 0.893). The 3 inconsistent cases were all mutation positive for primary tumors and mutation negative for LNM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No association was established between BRAF V600E mutation and regional lymph node metastasis in PTC in Chinese patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Junliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huanwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lianghong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics*; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
keywords: BRAF; intratumor heterogeneity; lymph node metastasis