Lee Ju-Han, Lee Eung-Seok, Kim Young-Sik
Department of Pathology, Bioinformatics Interest Group, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan, Republic of Korea.
Cancer. 2007 Jul 1;110(1):38-46. doi: 10.1002/cncr.22754.
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.
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.
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.
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.
众多研究已探究BRAF突变在甲状腺乳头状癌（PTC）中的临床意义。然而，关于BRAF突变作为PTC预后标志物的有用性，数据存在冲突。为解决这一争议，通过荟萃分析评估了PTC中BRAF突变的频率以及BRAF突变与临床病理参数之间的关联。
根据既定的选择标准对相关已发表研究进行综述。通过比值比或加权平均差估计结局参数的效应大小。
当前的荟萃分析纳入了12项研究，共1168例患者。BRAF突变的频率为49%。BRAF突变与组织学亚型、甲状腺外侵犯的存在以及更高的临床分期相关，但与年龄、性别、种族或肿瘤大小无关。
从当前的荟萃分析中可以明显看出BRAF突变对PTC患者预后不良的影响。BRAF突变的检测可作为PTC患者的重要预后标志物。
