Histological and Immunohistochemical Braf V600e Mutation Detection in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Background: Differentiated thyroid cancer is the most frequent malignant endocrine neoplasia in the world. Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common type and has the best prognosis. BRAF mutations are reported in 40–70% of patients and are associated with worse prognostic factors. Materials: and methods A bispective diagnostic test study was carried out by real-time PCR, immunohistochemical and histological tests in patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer between 2013–2016 and who participated in a study of the BRAF V600E mutation at the Fundación Valle del Lili University Hospital (FVL) in Cali Colombia. Results: Samples from 18 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were evaluated by a real-time PCR test for the BRAF gene. It was determined that 69% of the samples had histological characteristics suggestive of the mutation; however, when compared with PCR, the performance of the histological observations had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 75%. On the other hand, immunohistochemistry showed a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 50%. Conclusion: Immunohistochemistry and histology features can be used as an alternative test to molecular sequencing. Compared with PCR, these tests show great sensitivity and low specificity. Molecular confirmation of the mutation is necessary.