BRAF mutation in Chinese melanoma patients

Objective:This study is designed to investigate the mutation status of BRAF in Chinese mucosa,acral and non-acral skin malignant melanoma(MM) patients.Methods:Exon 11 and 15 of BRAF were amplified from tissue samples of 90 cases of Chinese MM patients by PCR;direct sequencing was applied to detect mutations in both exons.Results:BRAF mutation rate in mucosa,acral and non-acral skin MM tissues was 23.3%(7/30),16.7%(5/30)and 43.3%(13/30).One case in 25 was tandem mutation and 24 were point mutations.One mutation lied in exon 11 and 24 lied in exon 15,and V600E comprises 83.3% of all mutations in exon 15.Conclusion:BRAF mutation is frequent in non-acral MM of Chinese patients,and most in exon 15 with V600E point mutation,which renders it a potential drug target to be studied.