BRAFT1799A mutation in the primary tumor as a marker of risk, recurrence, or persistence of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Abstract Background and objective The BRAF T1799A mutation is reported to be associated with aggressive, persistent, and recurrent tumor in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The association of the BRAF T1799A mutation in the primary tumor with the clinicopathological characteristics of PTC was analyzed. Patients, materials, and methods Ninety-seven PTC patients were followed up for a median of 64.1 months. The BRAF T1799A mutation was analyzed in DNA from initial thyroidectomy biopsies by PCR amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism using the TspRI enzyme. Positive results were confirmed by DNA sequencing. The statistical association of the BRAF T1799A mutation and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed using the relevant hypothesis tests and logistic regression. Results The BRAF T1799A mutation was found in 46.4% of patients. Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed the mutation to be only associated with age over 60 years (odds ratio [OR] = 5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4–21.9; p = 0.019) and to a tumor size of 1 cm or greater (OR = 3.6, 95% CI, 1.2–10.3; p = 0.016). The mutation was not associated with histological subtype, metastasis, recurrence, more aggressive treatments (131I ablation therapy or other surgery), or PTC persistence at the end of follow-up. Conclusions The BRAF T1799A mutation is associated with age over 60 and a tumor size of 1 cm or greater, but not with other clinicopathological characteristics, tumor recurrence, or PTC persistence.