Immunohistochemical detection of BRAF V600E mutation status in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most aggressive adult solid cancers. Due to its rarity, there are only a handful of molecular genetics studies on ATCs (1-3) . BRAF V600E mutation is one of the commonly reported genetic alterations, reported in10-68% of ATCs(1-4) . Currently there is no effective treatment for ATC.,Therapy targeting BRAF may provide a potential therapeutic option as a dramatic response to BRAF inhibitor (vemurafenib) has been reported in a case of BRAF-mutated ATC (5) . A number of studies have shown that BRAF V600E mutant-specific antibody VE1 can identify BRAF V600E mutation in a spectrum of cancers, including thyroid cancers (6) . We investigated the utility of this antibody for BRAF V600E screening in ATCs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.