Metaanalysis of BRAF mutations and clinicopathologic characteristics in primary melanoma

Abstract

Background: BRAF mutations occur in some melanomas. We hypothesized that BRAF mutation rates may differ in melanomas found in Asian compared to white populations.

Objective: We performed a metaanalysis of BRAF mutations and their associations with the clinicopathologic characteristics of primary melanoma (PM), with a subgroup analysis to compare Asian and white patients with PM.

Methods: The PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched up to November 2013. The incidence rates and odds ratios (ORs) of BRAF mutations were calculated using a fixed or random effects model.

Results: BRAF mutation was associated with younger age (OR = 1.734; P < .001), trunk location (OR = 2.272; P < .001), non-chronically sun damaged skin (OR = 2.833; P < .001), superficial spreading melanoma (OR = 2.081; P < .001), and advanced melanoma stage (OR = 1.551; P = .003). The incidence of BRAF mutations in Asian patients with PM was half that of white patients with PM, but it was linked to the same clinicopathologic characteristics.

Limitations: Only a small number of studies have been conducted on Asian patients with PMs.

Conclusions: The BRAF mutation in PM was associated with age, anatomic site based on ultraviolet radiation exposure, histologic subtype, and advanced stage of melanoma. The clinicopathologic associations with BRAF mutations were similar in Asian and white patients with PM.

Keywords: Asians; BRAF mutation; melanoma; metaanalysis; race; systematic review.