BRAF(V600E) is present in approximately 50% of PTC and also found in aggressive histologic variants and PTC-derived anaplastic thyroid cancer, but is rare in follicular variants, and not found in follicular thyroid cancer.
DTC was present in half of the cases.BRAF V600E mutation was identified in nine of 36 (25%) ATCs; seven cases had identical mutations in both the ATC and DTC components.
The (V600E)BRAF mutation was observed in two ATC patients; the inhibition of proliferation by drugs was similar in tumors with or without (V600E)BRAF mutation.
Three of the lines carried a heterozygous BRAF mutation V600E, which is in line with reports of BRAF mutations in primary ATC and papillary thyroid cancer.
We used RNA interference to evaluate the effect of BRAF knockdown in the human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell lines FRO and ARO carrying the BRAF V600E (V600EBRAF) mutation.