Effects of BRAFV600E mutation on Na+/I- symporter expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Radioiodine ablation (RIA) therapy is one of the most important treatments for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), but some patients who received 131I have radioiodine-refractory disease caused by the decreased expreβsion of the Na+/I- symporter (NIS). BRAFV600E mutation is one poβsible risk factor that can disturb the NIS expression, but the roles are unclear in clinical practice. This research discussed the association of BRAFV600E mutation and NIS expression in PTC tissue and the clinical implications in RIA therapy. 134 PTC samples were collected between June 2013 and June 2014 from Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College, and their clinical characteristics were analyzed. RT-PCR was used to detect the BRAFV600E mutation from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples, and immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the NIS expression. IPP software was used to calculate the relative expression quantity of NIS. We found that there was no significant correlation between the absorbance (A) values of NIS and clinicopathologic features in these cases, even thyroid stimulating hormone. BRAFV600E mutation showed inhibitory effect on the NIS expression without statistically significant difference in all PTC cases (β=–0.0195, P=0.085), but in the subgroup without hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), BRAFV600E mutation could significantly inhibit the NIS expression (β=–0.0257, P=0.046). The results indicate that BRAFV600E mutation is correlated with a lower expression of NIS in PTCs without HT, suggesting the radioiodine-refractory effects during RIA therapy in these patients.