Clinical implication of the BRAFV600E mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma

BACKGROUND The BRAFV600E mutation is the most common genetic alteration in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In recent studies, the BRAFV600E mutation has been associated with poor clinicopathological characteristics, such as lymph node metastasis, extrathyroidal extension, and advanced stage. However, other studies have failed to establish an association between the BRAFV600E mutation and clinicopathological features. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the BRAFV600E mutation and its clinicopathological factors at a single institution. METHODS A total of 327 consecutive patients with PTC were enrolled in this study and underwent thyroid surgery at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital between February 2010 and December 2011.BRAFV600E mutation analysis was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based amplification of DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded tumour specimens. RESULTS The BRAFV600E mutation was detected in the tumours of 241 (73.7%) patients. Lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and multifocality were not significantly associated with the BRAFV600E mutation. However, larger tumour size, extrathyroidal extension, histologic type (classic type), and concurrent Hashimoto's thyroiditis were associated with the BRAFV600E mutation in the univariate analysis, although no clinicopathological features were associated with the BRAFV600E mutation in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION There was no idependent prognostic factor associated with BRAFV600E mutation status in this study. The BRAFV600E mutation is unlikely to serve as a prognostic factor for PTC.