title: The value of the repeated examination of BRAF V600E mutation status in diagnostics of papillary thyroid cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nodular thyroid disease is one of the most frequently diagnosed pathologies of the adult population in iodine-deficient regions. Approximately 30% of thyroid aspirates are classified as nondiagnostic/unsatisfactory or indeterminate. However, patients with indeterminate cytology still undergo surgery. The object of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of re-examining the BRAF V600E mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients underwent ultrasound guided fine-needle aspiration of a thyroid nodule. They were assigned to one of the four groups (indeterminate or positive for malignant cells) of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Genetic investigation of the BRAF V600E mutation was performed for all of the fine-needle aspiration cytology specimens. All of the patients underwent surgery. Subsequently, histological investigation of the removed tissues was performed. Additional analysis of the BRAF V600E mutation from the histology specimen was then performed for the initially BRAF-negative cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and fourteen patients were involved in the study. One hundred and six (49.53%) patients were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Of these 106 patients, 95 (89.62%) patients were diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. The BRAF V600E mutation was positive in 62 (65.26%) and negative in 33 (34.74%) histologically confirmed papillary thyroid cancer cases. After the genetic investigation, a total of 74 (77.89%) papillary thyroid cancer cases were positive for the BRAF V600E mutation and 21 (22.11%) were negative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Repeated examination of the BRAF V600E mutation status in the fine-needle aspiration may potentially increase the sensitivity of papillary thyroid cancer diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University, Center of Abdominal Surgery, Vilnius, Lithuania.. augustas.beisa@santa.lt.
authors.forename: Augustas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beiša
authors.forename: Virgilijus
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Beiša
authors.forename: Mindaugas
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoškus
authors.forename: Elvyra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ostanevičiūtė
authors.forename: Laimonas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Griškevičius
authors.forename: Kęstutis
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strupas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
keywords: BRAF mutation; fine-needle aspiration; thyroid cancer