Premium
Analysis of circulating tumor DNA does not improve the clinical management of patients with locally advanced and metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma
Author(s) -
Condello Vincenzo,
Macerola Elisabetta,
Ugolini Clara,
De Napoli Luigi,
Romei Cristina,
Materazzi Gabriele,
Elisei Rossella,
Basolo Fulvio
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25155
Subject(s) - thyroid carcinoma , medicine , v600e , digital polymerase chain reaction , circulating tumor dna , thyroid cancer , cancer research , mutation , papillary thyroid cancer , thyroid , pathology , cancer , oncology , polymerase chain reaction , gene , biology , biochemistry
Background Circulating cell‐free tumor DNA (ctDNA) in plasma is a promising noninvasive instrument for cancer monitoring. Detection of BRAF V600E on ctDNA of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) may represent an indicator of tumor aggressiveness and progression. Methods Eighty‐three plasma samples were collected from 70 patients with thyroid nodules undergoing surgery and from 13 patients with PTC causing distant metastases. A total of 59 PTCs from both groups were evaluated for BRAF mutation on tumor tissue and on ctDNA from plasma samples by real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and digital PCR. Results Of 59 PTCs, 22 were BRAF V600E mutated (37.3%). The corresponding ctDNA was negative by using both techniques. Conclusion Although highly sensitive techniques were used, in our study, circulating BRAF V600E alleles were never detected in the plasma of patients with PTC; therefore, our results raise the question about the clinical usefulness of BRAF V600E analysis on ctDNA of patients with PTC.