BRAF V600E mutational status in pediatric thyroid cancer. Issue 7 (27th March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Henke, Lauren E.; Perkins, Stephanie M.; Pfeifer, John D.; Ma, Changquing; Chen, Yumei; DeWees, Todd; Grigsby, Perry W.
• Is Part Of: Pediatric blood & cancer. Volume 61:Issue 7(2014:Jul.)
• Page Start: 1168
• Page End: 1172
• Publication Date: 2014-03-27
• Subjects: Tumors in children -- Periodicals; Blood -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Cancer in children -- Periodicals; 618.92
• DOI: 10.1002/pbc.24935
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1545-5009

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="pbc24935-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Clinical outcome of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in children differs significantly from that of adults. There is no clear explanation of this difference although previous studies have demonstrated a lower prevalence of the <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> mutation in PTC of children. However, data are limited due to the rarity of this diagnosis. <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> mutation prevalence and its relationship with outcome in pediatric PTC remain unclear.</p> </sec> <sec id="pbc24935-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Procedure</title> <p> <italic>BRAF</italic> <sup> <italic>V600E</italic> </sup> mutational status was determined in 27 PTC patients less than 22 years of age using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. The relationship between <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> mutation status, patient and tumor characteristics as well as progression‐free survival (PFS) were analyzed.</p> </sec> <sec id="pbc24935-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p> <italic>BRAF</italic> <sup> <italic>V600E</italic> </sup> was present in 63% of patients and occurred more often in male patients versus females (<italic>P</italic> = 0.033). Presence of the mutation did not correlate with any difference in extent of disease at diagnosis, tumor size, capsular invasion, vascular invasion, soft tissue invasion, or margin status. At 10 years, PFS for <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> positive versus negative patients was 55.5% versus 70.0%, respectively (<italic>P</italic> = 0.48). Overall survival was 100% and median follow‐up was 13.9 years.</p> </sec> <sec id="pbc24935-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>This study of pediatric PTC demonstrates that <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> mutations occur in children at a rate comparable to adults. We found a correlation of <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> with the male gender, but no evidence that the mutation correlates with more extensive or aggressive disease. This analysis suggests that differences in disease course of PTC in children versus adults are not strongly dependent upon the presence of the <italic>BRAF</italic><sup><italic>V600E</italic></sup> mutation. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:1168–1172. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </sec> </abstract>