The Diagnostic Value of BRAF V600E Gene Detection Combined with DNA Ploidy Analysis in Thyroid Cancer.

Abstract

The thyroid cancer incidence has been experimenting an accelerated growth all over the world. The serine/threonine-protein kinase (BRAF) V600E gene detection or the DNA ploidy analysis has been employed in the identification of thyroid cancer type. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of the BRAF V600E gene integrated with DNA ploidy analysis in thyroid cancer. From August 2022 to May 2023, 400 individuals from the thyroid surgery outpatient department of our hospital were enrolled in this study. The participants were divided into low-risk groups (Ⅰ+Ⅱ+Ⅲ group; n = 200) and high-risk groups (Ⅳ+Ⅴ group; n = 200) based on the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS). A total of the patients were subjected to the DNA ploidy analysis, the BRAF V600E gene detection, or the combination of both techniques. We evaluated the diagnostic value of the above techniques and considered the postoperative pathology results as gold standard for cancer diagnosis. The negative predictive value (NPV), accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and positive predictive value (PPV) of TI-RADS, BRAF V600E gene detection, DNA ploidy analysis, and BRAF V600E gene detection joined with DNA ploidy analysis were calculated. Among 400 subjects, 238 presented thyroid cancer and 162 had benign lesions, according to the postoperative pathology results. The obtained sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, and NPV values of TI-RADS were 55.88%, 58.64%, 57.00%, 66.50%, 47.50%, respectively; of BRAF V600E gene detection were 81.93%, 69.75%, 77.00%, 79.92%, 72.44%, respectively; of DNA ploidy analysis were 83.19%, 72.84%, 79.00%, 81.82%, 74.68%, respectively; of BRAF V600E gene combined with DNA ploidy analysis were 90.34%, 76.54%, 84.75%, 84.98%, 84.35%, respectively. Compared with TI-RADS, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, and NPV values of DNA ploidy analysis, BRAF V600E gene detection, and the conjunction of these last two methods were increased (p < 0.05). The combination of DNA ploidy analysis and BRAF V600E gene detection had the highest values among them all. BRAF V600E gene detection in conjunction with DNA ploidy analysis showed a better diagnostic value than both methods separately or TI-RADS.