title: Clinical significance ofBRAFV600E mutation in 154 patients with thyroid nodules.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of theBRAFV600E mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients from eastern coastal China and to determine whether it is correlated with the clinicopathological features of PTCs with or without current Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT). TheBRAFV600E mutation status was analyzed in 206 thyroid nodules of 154 patients undergoing thyroidectomy using polymerase chain reaction and bi-directional sequencing. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the association of theBRAFV600E mutation with clinicopathological features. Thyroid nodules were classified as PTC, nodular goiter (NG), adenomatoid nodule, adenoma and HT. TheBRAFV600E mutation was observed in 61.5% of PTCs analyzed; it was also detected in one normal tissue adjacent to PTC and one NG. One patient exhibited double mutations in theBRAFgene; theBRAFV600E mutation in the PTC lesion and theBRAFK601E mutation in the contralateral NG lesion. Patients harboring theBRAFV600E mutation had higher thyroid stimulating hormone levels (2.453±1.464 vs. 1.966±1.296 mIU/l), a reduced occurrence of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (55.0 vs. 88%), and a higher occurrence of lymph node metastasis (LNM; 42.5 vs. 16.0%) compared with those with wild-typeBRAF(all P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that theBRAFV600E mutation was associated with LNM of PTC (hazard ratio, 5.051; 95% confidence interval, 1.068-23.893; P=0.041). Conversely, no association was identified between theBRAFV600E mutation and HT (38.5 vs. 67.3%, χ2=3.656, P=0.056). Thus, in regional PTCs, theBRAFV600E mutation was prevalent, suggesting that it may be an early and phenotypically defining molecular event in PTC, and may represent an independent factor that predicts LNM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lingying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lizhen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiaofeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Y I
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yueming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Daojun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Medical University, Affiliated Hangzhou Hospital (Hangzhou First People's Hospital), Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shaoyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: BRAF; Hashimoto thyroiditis; papillary thyroid carcinoma; prognostic value