To BRAF or not to BRAF: Is that even a question anymore?

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Alterations in BRAF have been discovered in most pediatric low-grade gliomas. Because the field has moved quickly during the past few years, there is not yet widespread awareness about what B-Raf normally does, how the BRAF gene is modified in gliomas, why mutant proteins promote gliomagenesis, and what an abnormal BRAF result means for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Depending on the data from ongoing clinical trials, however, BRAF mutation screening could quickly become mandatory for all pediatric gliomas and perhaps even a subset of adult gliomas. Herein, these topics and different methods of testing for BRAF fusions and V600E point mutations are reviewed. Copyright © 2012 by the American Association of Neuropathologists, Inc.