Lack of BRAF-V600E mutation in stage I and II of colorectal cancer

Aim: We aimed to explore the frequency of BRAF V600E mutation in Iranian patients with colorectal cancer [CRC] as well as its association with clinic pathological characteristic of patients

Background: CRC is the third leading cause of cancer related death. There is a growing body of data showing the association of BRAF V600E mutation with malignant transformation and clinical outcome of different tumors, including CRC. These findings suggest that BRAF V600E mutation can be used as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker for management of cancer patients

Patients and methods: A total of 85 patients with sporadic tumor were recruited. Braf V600E mutation was investigated using sequencing of extracted DNAs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded [FFPE] tumor tissues. Electropherograms were analyzed using Laser-gene 6 software

Results: More than 95% of patients were in stage I and II and none of them were in stage IV. Patients were mostly below 55 years old and tumors were dominantly located in the distal colon. Of note, no BRAF V600E mutations were detected in our population

Conclusion: Our results showed no V600E mutation in the BRAF gene in stage I and II of CRC patients. Further studies in multi-center settings are warranted to examine the prognostic and/or predictive value of this marker in different stages of colorectal cancer patients

Gastric atrophy: use of OLGA staging system in practice

Aim: This study used the OLGA system to characterize the histology pattern of gastritis in dyspeptic outpatients with a mean age of 45 years from regions with different gastric cancer risks

Background: Several classification systems have been purposed for understanding the status of the gastric mucosa. Currently, the Sydney system is the most widely employed. Nevertheless, the applicability of the Sydney system in therapeutic and prognostic areas is a matter of debate. Given this shortcoming an international group of gastroenterologists and pathologists developed a new system named Operative Link on Gastritis Assessment [OLGA]

Patients and methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study the OLGA system was used to characterize the histology pattern of gastritis in 685 dyspeptic patients referring to the department of gastroenterology of a training hospital

Results: No significant correlation was found between active inflammation and total OLGA score [P > 0.05]. Also, no statistically significant correlation was found between activity and intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, atrophy, and cancer [P > 0.05]. Even though, there is a positive correlation between mild chronic inflammation and total OLGA score, no correlation has been identified between chronicity and dysplasia or cancer [P > 0.05]. Nearly, In all cases with no dysplasia OLGA score was zero but all patients with gastric cancer OLGA score was more than two

Conclusion: Generally, the activity is not a useful factor in predicting prognosis and its loss of relation with total OLGA score does not make OLGA score any less predictable

Clinical implications of BRAF mutation test in colorectal cancer

Knowledge about the clinical significance of V-Raf Murine Sarcoma Viral Oncogene Homolog B1 [BRAF] mutations in colorectal cancer [CRC] is growing. BRAF encodes a protein kinase involved with intracellular signaling and cell division. The gene product is a downstream effector of Kirsten Ras [KRAS] within the RAS/RAF/MAPK cellular signaling pathway. Evidence suggests that BRAF mutations, like KRAS mutations, result in uncontrolled, non-growth factor-dependent cellular proliferation. Similar to the rationale that KRAS mutation precludes effective treatment with anti-EGFR drugs. Recently, BRAF mutation testing has been introduced into routine clinical laboratories because its significance has become clearer in terms of effect on pathogenesis of CRC, utility in differentiating sporadic CRC from Lynch syndrome [LS], prognosis, and potential for predicting patient outcome in response to targeted drug therapy. In this review we describe the impact of BRAF mutations for these aspects