Prospective Study to Assess the Clinicopathological and Prognostic Value of BRAF V600E Mutation in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Abstract Background BRAF is a protein kinase downstream of RAS in the RAS-RAF-MEK- ERK kinase pathway. The majority (95%) of BRAF mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is the BRAFV600E mutation, which is considered an important negative prognostic marker and is associated with resistance to standard chemotherapies in mCRC patients. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the BRAF mutation in patients with mCRC and its association with clinicopathological factors and survival outcomes. Patients and Methods The included specimens were analysed for BRAFV600E mutation by immunohistochemistry (IHC) from confirmed CRC patients with radiological or pathological evidence of metastasis. Results The BRAF mutation was positive in 9.1% of patients. Synchronous metastasis was observed in patients with BRAF mutation with statistical significance (P = 0.033). With regard to treatment, there was no statistically significant difference in patients with BRAF mutations who received targeted chemotherapy as first-line therapy also there was no statistically significant difference in median PFS of patients with BRAF mutation (p = 0.789) and also in median OS (p = 0.343). Conclusion Although the BRAF mutation is a relatively rare finding in mCRC, it is characterized by a critical negative impact on treatment outcome. Given this poor outcome, optimization of therapy is an important goal.