The BRAF(V600E) mutation is an independent, poor prognostic factor for the outcome of patients with low-risk intrathyroid papillary thyroid carcinoma: single-institution results from a large cohort study

Background: The BRAFV600E mutation, the most frequent genetic alteration in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), was demonstrated to be a poor prognostic factor. The aim of this study was to evaluate its prognostic significance in a large cohort of low-risk intrathyroid PTC. Methods: Among the 431 consecutive PTC patients, we selected 319 patients with an intrathyroid tumor and no metastases (T1-T2, N0, M0). The BRAFV600E mutation was analyzed by PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct genomic sequencing. The correlation between the presence/absence of the mutation, the clinical-pathological features, and the outcome of the PTC patients was investigated. Results: The BRAFV600E mutation was present in 106 of 319 PTC patients (33.2%). Its prevalence was also the same in subgroups identified according to the level of risk. The BRAFV600E mutation correlated with multifocality, aggressive variant, absence, or infiltration of the tumoral capsule. BRAFV600E-mutated PTC also required a highe...