BRAFV600E Test for Suspicious Lateral Lymph Nodes in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Purpose: This study evaluates the BRAFV600E test with fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for lateral lymph node (LN) metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: Ninety-one patients, including 95 lateral LNs with possible PTC metastasis, were consecutively entered into the study. We analyzed the accuracy of results for the BRAFV600E test and FNAC for lateral LN metastasis in PTC. Results: Modified radical neck dissection was performed for 34 cases due to lateral LN metastasis. The sensitivity of FNAC was 88.2% , and the LN-BRAFV600E test 64.7%. The specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) were 100% for both tests. The negative predictive values (NPV) were FNAC, 93.8%, and LN-BRAFV600E, 83.6%. For samples positive with either the BRAFV600E test or FNAC, the sensitivity was 94.1%, specificity 100%, PPV value 100%, and NPV 96.8%. Conclusion: This study suggests that the complementary LN-BRAFV600E test with FNAC is a supportive diagnostic method for PTC patients with indeterminate or non-diagnostic suspicious lateral LNs.