Objective: To estimate the frequency of BRAF V600E mutation in melanoma patients and to assess an association of this type of mutation with the clinical and morphological characteristics of the disease.
Material and methods: The mutation of BRAF V600E was analyzed using an allele-specific real-time PCR assay in 71 melanoma patients treated at the Krasnoyarsk Territorial Oncology Dispensary. Before DNA isolation, the glasses containing the material obtained from the patients and stained with hematoxylin and eosin were tested for the content of tumor cells in the sections. Later on, genomic DNA was isolated with a FFPET DNA-Extraction kit (Biolink, Russia) and the real-time PCR assay was carried out.
Results: The BRAF V600E mutation was observed in 40.84% of the patients and was not in 59.16%. There were specific features in tumor location and histotype in relation to the status of BRAF.
Conclusion: To detect whether the V600E mutation is present or absent in the BRAF gene in melanoma patients is an important component in the evaluation of the biological behavior of tumor cells and their performance of biologically significant functions, such as tumor invasion and dissemination and neoangiogenesis, which is important for the further assessment of tumor progression and disease prognosis.