Here, we investigated the role played by (V600E)B-Raf in melanoma metastasis and showed that targeting this signaling cascade significantly reduces lung metastases.
Results indicated that knockdown of mutant (V600E)B-Raf inhibited melanoma cell extravasation in vitro and subsequent lung metastasis development in vivo.
B-Raf(V600E) cells in which either B-Raf(V600E) or TSP-1 were knocked down were implanted orthotopically into the thyroids of immunocompromised mice, resulting in significant reduction in tumor size and fewer pulmonary metastases from the primary carcinoma as compared with the control cells.
These findings suggest that the BRAF(V600E) mutation can be detected using a PNA clamp real-time PCR in the blood of PTC patients with lung metastasis.