Clinicopathologic significance of BRAF V600E mutation in papillary carcinomas of the thyroid: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND. Numerous studies have investigated the clinical significance of BRAF mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, there have been conflicting data on the usefulness of BRAF mutation as a prognostic marker of PTC. To address this controversy, the frequency of the BRAF mutation and the associations between BRAF mutation and clinicopathologic parameters in PTC were evaluated by meta-analysis. METHODS. The relevant published studies were reviewed according to the defined selection criteria. The effect sizes of outcome parameters were estimated by odds ratio or weighted mean difference. RESULTS. The current meta-analysis included 12 studies with a total of 1168 patients. The frequency of the BRAF mutation was 49%. The BRAF mutation was associated with histologic subtype, the presence of extrathyroidal extension, and higher clinical stage, but not with age, sex, race, or tumor size. CONCLUSIONS. The effect of the BRAF mutation on the poor prognosis of PTC patients was evident from the current meta-analysis. The detection of the BRAF mutation may be used as an important prognostic marker of patients with PTC.