Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is the most common pediatric brain tumor. A recurrent feature of PA is deregulation of the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway most often through KIAA1549-BRAF fusion, but also by other BRAF- or RAF1-gene fusions and point mutations (e.g. BRAFV600E). These features may serve as diagnostic and prognostic markers, and also facilitate development of targeted ...

PURPOSE The RAS-RAF-mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways mediate the cellular response to growth signals. In melanocytes, BRAF is involved in cAMP-dependent growth signals. Recently, activating mutations in the BRAF gene, were reported in a large proportion of melanomas. We have studied mutations in the BRAF gene and their association with clinical parameters. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We anal...

Colorectal cancer is a multi-step process characterized by a sequence of genetic alterations in cell growth regulatory genes, such as the adenomatous polyposis coli, KRAS, p53 and DCC genes. In the present study mutation analysis was performed with SSCA/direct sequencing of the hot-spot regions in exons 11 and 15 for the BRAF gene and exons 1-2 for the KRAS gene in 130 primary colorectal cancer...

Various types of human cancers harbor BRAF somatic mutations, leading researchers to seek molecular targets for BRAF inhibitors. A mutually exclusive relationship has been observed between the BRAF-V600E mutation and K-ras mutations, suggesting that the BRAF-V600E mutation may differ from the other BRAF mutant types. Here, we used microarray analysis to examine differences between the BRAF and ...

Point mutations of KRAS and BRAF genes are thought to be important in carcinogenesis of colon cancer. In particular, gene instability caused by decreased expression of the hMLH1 gene, a DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene, may be linked to the activating BRAF V600E point mutation in sporadic colon cancer. However, a consensus has not been established regarding the correlation between point mutations...

Treatment responses of BRAF mutant melanoma to BRAF inhibitors are often limited by the development of resistance. This case report describes the use of multiplatform molecular profiling in sequential surgical samples of a treatment-resistant tumour site subjected to ongoing treatment with dabrafenib in a patient with metastatic cutaneous BRAF mutant melanoma. Next-generation sequencing showed ...

Activating mutations of the BRAF gene lead to constitutive activation of the MAPK pathway. Although many human cancers carry the mutated BRAF gene, this mutation has not yet been characterized in canine cancers. As human and canine cancers share molecular abnormalities, we hypothesized that BRAF gene mutations also exist in canine cancers. To test this hypothesis, we sequenced the exon 15 of BR...

This study sought to investigate the correlations of V-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) gene mutations with the clinicopathologic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma and central lymph node metastasis. We retrospectively analyzed the 2-year medical records of patients who underwent surgery for papillary thyroid carcinoma. After screening, the records of 126 patients who me...

Development of colorectal cancer (CRC) can occur both via gene mutations in tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes, as well as via epigenetic changes, including DNA methylation. Site-specific methylation in CRC regulates expression of tumor-associated genes. Right-sided colon tumors more frequently have BRAF (p.V600E) mutations and have higher methylation grades when compared to left-sided malign...

Novel genetic findings about papillary thyroid carcinoma identify BRAF gene as a subject of great interest. Involvement of BRAF gene in pathogenesis of PTC, diagnostic value and the putative prognostic significance of its T1799A mutation are summarized in this article. Furthermore, a particular attention is focused to the role of pre-operative detection of BRAF mutation in the FNAB specimens of...