The incidence of lymph node metastasis were as follows: wild type (19.3%), ROS1 (72.8%), BRAF (55.5%), ALK (44.7%), HER2 (40%), RET (23.1%), KRAS (15.3%), EGFR (15.3%) and MET mutation (0%) (P < 0.001).
The high expression of exosomal miR-485-3p correlated with tumor size greater than or equal to 1 cm, advanced clinical stage, extrathyroidal extension, BRAF mutation, and lymph node metastasis.
The CDX2/CK20 phenotype was associated with older age (above 56 y), higher stage (stage III or IV), deep invasion (pT3 or pT4), lymph node metastasis (pN1 or pN2), poor differentiation (nonmedullary/non-signet ring cell type), the mutation of BRAF, and CIMP-H status among MSI-H CRCs.
The association between central lymph node metastasis (LNM) and risk factors, including the presence of the BRAF mutation, BRAF<sup>V600E</sup>, in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) requires further investigation.
The absence of suspicious US features together with negative BRAF testing predicted PTC without extrathyroidal extension or lymph node metastasis (negative predictive value 88%).
The BRAF mutation status or BRAFCt values were not associated with any of the clinical-pathologic prognostic factors.In conclusion, a higher number of suspicious US features classified by the TIRADS, but not the BRAF mutation, are associated with lateral lymph node metastasis in patients with PTC, and can aid in the preoperative identification of patients at increased risk of lateral lymph node metastasis.
The BRAF c.1799T>A (p.Val600Glu) substitution was present in 59.0% Chinese PTCs, more frequently observed in patients with lymph node metastasis (P = 1.6 × 10(-4)).
The BRAF mutation was found to be an independent indicator of tumor bilaterality (odds ratio [OR] 1.484, P = .010); however, it was not an independent indicator of CLNM (OR 1.167, P = .254) or lateral lymph node metastasis (OR 0.647, P = .384).
The BRAF(V600E) mutation was associated with male sex (P = 0.028), large tumor size, extrathyroidal extension, central and lateral lymph node metastasis, and advanced tumor stage (P<0.0001).
The BRAF(V600E) mutation was significantly associated with age (≥ 45 years), tumor size (>1 cm), extrathyroidal extension, and cervical lymph node metastases (P < 0.05).
The BRAF mutation was significantly related to older age (57.4 vs. 43.1 years, p=0.012), extrathyroid extension (76.9% vs. 35.7%, p=0.026), and lymph node metastasis (88.5% vs. 57.1%, p=0.044).
Subtype stratification demonstrated that the BRAFV600E mutation was associated with tumor size, extrathyroid invasion, the presence of lymph node metastasis and risk of disease recurrence, and mortality in patients with the classic variant of PTC.
Statistical analysis demonstrated that the BRAF mutation rate was not associated with any of the following clinicopathological features: Sex, age, smoking history, clinical stages, distant metastasis, differentiation degree, tumor size and regional lymph node metastasis (P≥0.05).
Preoperative BRAF mutation testing of FNAB specimens provides a novel tool to preoperatively identify PTC patients at higher risk for extensive disease (extrathyroidal extension and lymph node metastases) and those who are more likely to manifest disease persistence/recurrence.
Papillary thyroid carcinomas with cervical lymph node metastases can be stratified into clinically relevant prognostic categories using oncogenic BRAF, the number of nodal metastases, and extra-nodal extension.
Papillary cancer with BRAF mutation was significantly associated with a larger tumor size (P = 0.045), extrathyroidal invasion (P = 0.012), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.008), and a higher TNM stage (P = 0.044).
Our results showed that BRAF mutation was associated with a larger tumor size, higher frequency of lymph node metastasis, and lower TIMP3 protein levels.