Next generation sequencing showed BRAFV600E mutation in the primary papillary carcinoma and NRAS Q61R mutation in the primary follicular carcinoma and bony metastasis.
Common molecular alterations, such as BRAFp.V600E, RAS point mutations, and fusion oncogenes (RET-PTC being the prototypical example), have been, respectively, associated with conventional papillary carcinoma, follicular-patterned tumours (follicular adenoma, follicular carcinoma, and the follicular variant of papillary carcinoma/non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features), and with papillary carcinomas from young patients and arising after exposure to ionising radiation, respectively.
We evaluated 60 follicular adenomas (FA), 29 minimally invasive follicular carcinomas (MIFTC), 82 papillary carcinomas, follicular variant (FVPTC), and 16 noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasms with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFT-P) for the molecular status of BRAF, H-, N-, K-RAS, and TERT and correlated it with clinic-pathological parameters of tumors.
Given the strong genotype:phenotype correlation known to be present in thyroid cancer, the separation of BRAF(V600E)-like and RAS-like tumors has profound implications for its classification, especially the follicular variant of papillary carcinoma.
We conducted a pilot study on the diagnosis of thyroid nodules by analysis of promoter hypermethylation status with reference to BRAF(V) (600E) mutation and cytopathology results using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues and liquid-based preparation (LBP) thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) samples to predict more reliably the possibility of papillary carcinoma.
Novel BRAF and KRAS mutations were identified in two of three tumors suggesting that mutations in PCSO may differ from those commonly identified in papillary carcinoma of the eutopic thyroid.
Moreover, BRAF testing confirmed 82.4% of papillary carcinomas with suspicious cytology and identified 33.3% of papillary carcinomas with atypia cytology.
Although BRAF mutations are detected exclusively in papillary carcinoma, they are also found in medullary carcinoma and follicular carcinoma.[Corrected]
The aim of this study was to determine whether the second review of FNA cytology can improve the diagnostic values and to assess the role of proto-oncogene B-Raf (BRAF) mutation testing in the diagnosis of papillary carcinoma (PC).
Follicular variant of papillary carcinoma: reproducibility of histologic diagnosis and utility of HBME-1 immunohistochemistry and BRAF mutational analysis as diagnostic adjuncts.
These findings indicate that, although BRAF(V600E) mutation may play some roles in local carcinoma development, there is no evidence that BRAF(V600E) mutation significantly reflects the aggressive characteristics and poor prognosis of patients with papillary carcinoma in Japan.
In summary, BRAFV600E mutation was occasionally observed in anaplastic carcinomas with papillary carcinoma, and the low frequency of BRAFV600E mutation in anaplastic carcinoma was thought to be due to the low frequency of anaplastic carcinomas with papillary carcinoma.