Correlation among the BRAF Gene Mutation Status, Clinicopathological Features of Primary Tumour, and Lymph Node Metastasizing of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common malignant thyroid tumour. A common mutation of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the somatic mutation of the BRAF ^V600E gene.

Aim: The aim was to 1) determine the association of lymph node metastases of PTC with the BRAF gene mutation of primary tumour; 2) evaluate association of the BRAF mutation in the ­primary tumour with clinicopathological para­meters; 3) examine the extent of genetic heterogeneity by monitoring the BRAF mutation in multicentric tumours.

Subjects and methods: Retrospective analysis of the BRAF ^V600E mutation in PTC and PTC neck lymph node metastases in 156 patients operated from 2003 to 2012 in Prague and Zlín, the Czech Republic, using a qPCR assay. The results were correlated with clinicopathological factors.

Results: DNA was successfully extracted from 137 samples. The BRAF ^V600E mutation was detected in 78 cases (56.9%). The patients with BRAF p.Val600Glu mutation of primary tumour had only non-significantly higher risk of cervical lymph node metastases [OR=2.39 (95%) CI 1.00–5.75, p=0.052]. In the classic papillary variant, the BRAF ^V600E mutation was found significantly more often than in other PTC subtypes (p=0.022). We did not confirm any significant association between the BRAF ^V600E mutation and other clinicopathological findings.

Conclusion: Except for the higher prevalence in papillary variant of PTC, BRAF p.Val600Glu mutation was not associated with other prognostic clinicopathological factors of PTC. BRAF mutation cannot be regarded as a reliable marker of node metastases in patients with PTC.

Key words

papillary carcinoma - BRAF^V600E mutation - clinical and pathological parameters - neck node metastases

^* Both authors contributed equally to this work.

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