الفهرس 
EPIDEMIOLOGYOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. More common in developed than in developing countries. Despite improvements in CRC screening, approximately 20% of patients are diagnosed with metastatic CRC (mCRC). Molecular testing in patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC) has become standard practice and knowledge of RAS, BRAF and microsatellite instability (MSI) status is now imperative if we want to offer patients the best treatment to improve the clinical outcome for patients with mCRC.
BRAF is a protein kinase downstream of RAS in the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK kinase pathway. The prevalence of BRAF mutations might be underestimated, but it has recently been reported to be as high as 21% in CRC patients in some populations. The overwhelming majority (>95%) of BRAF mutations in mCRC is the V600E mutation, which is an important negative prognostic marker and is associated with resistance to standard chemotherapies in mCRC patients, suggesting a personalized therapeutic approach in mCRC- patients with BRAF mutation.
In our study, we aimed to investigate the BRAF mutation in patients with metastatic CRC and its association with clinicopathological factors and survival outcomes. The BRAF mutation in our study was positive in 9.1% of patients and was associated with aggressive features. This poor outcome suggests that optimization of therapy is an important goal.