Study of peripheral BRAFV600E mutation as a possible novel marker for papillary thyroid carcinomas

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The BRAF(V600E) mutation can be detected peripherally in the serum of patients with thyroid cancer. The purpose of this study was to establish the value of detecting the peripheral BRAF(V600E) mutation as a serum tumor marker in this population. METHODS: In this study, we obtained 94 serum samples from patients with papillary thyroid cancer positive for the BRAF(V600E) mutation in the tumor itself. The serum samples were analyzed for BRAF(V600E) mutation using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients (71.3%) had papillary thyroid microcarcinoma and 26 patients (27.7%) had underlying lymphocytic thyroiditis. Forty-three patients (45.7%) were found to have stage III or stage IV thyroid cancer. None of the patients had a detectable serum BRAF(V600E) mutation. CONCLUSION: We were unable to identify peripheral BRAF(V600E) mutations in patients with papillary thyroid cancer using real-time PCR. Further studies will be needed to validate our results using various diagnostic methods.