High BRAF variant allele frequencies are associated with distinct pathological features and responsiveness to target therapy in melanoma patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

BRAF mutant melanoma patients are commonly treated with anti-BRAF therapeutic strategies. However, many factors, including the percentage of BRAF-mutated cells, may contribute to the great variability in patient outcomes.

Patients and methods

The BRAF variant allele frequency (VAF; defined as the percentage of mutated alleles) of primary and secondary melanoma lesions, obtained from 327 patients with different disease stages, was assessed by pyrosequencing. The BRAF mutation rate and VAF were then correlated with melanoma pathological features and patients' clinical characteristics. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to study the correlations between BRAF VAF, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in a subset of 62 patients treated by anti-BRAF/ant

SUBMITTER: Berrino E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8134716 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature