Hi all, We've just found out my stage 3a hubby's tumour was positive for BRAF mutation. [] However, advanced melanoma is an aggressive disease for which there are few therapies, and which portends a poor prognosis. Knowing your BRAF mutation status can help your health care provider choose the best melanoma treatment option for you. Is there someone doing specific treatment after BRAF mutation turning positive, in stage 3? The V600E mutation (described above) is the most common BRAF gene mutation found in human cancers. BRAF is very common in melanoma. In the control group, 44% of the tumors were BRAF positive, whereas in the group with metastatic disease only 29.8% were BRAF positive. You can also take a MEK inhibitor (Mekinist) and as of yesterday (!!!) [] Surgical excision remains the treatment of choice for early disease, and adjuvant therapy with interferon alfa has shown benefit in some stage II and III cases. Anyway my question for some of the more well studied in this group, if you have a gene mutation does that mean it effects you no matter you status (ie NED). References in periodicals archive? ... Write what you mean clearly and correctly. The doctor can sometimes do genetic tests on your melanoma cells that were removed during surgery. BRAF inhibitors. Many thyroid cancers are associated with mutations in one or more cancer-associated genes. Here is a post I created that explains what BRAF is and how it can contribute to about 50% of melanoma patients: This mutation has frequently been found in cancers of the colon and rectum, ovary, and thyroid gland. We, therefore, investigated the clinical relevance of ARID3A expression in patients with residual rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). Answer to: What does BRAF negative melanoma mean? Good luck, Carm (oncology nurse). Know about BRAF. Or does it act in different ways?). BRAF gene mutation testing has emerged as an important tool for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and predicting patient outcome in response to targeted therapy for multiple cancer types. If you have changes in the BRAF gene, doctors describe your melanoma as BRAF positive. Several other somatic mutations in the BRAF gene have also been associated with cancer. I am one of the "lucky" ones with the BRAF mutation or so says my ONC. The staging should not matter as much as that message that even in stage IV these drugs are effective. If you don’t have changes, then your melanoma is BRAF negative. Do you know if it means anything in terms of the cancer though (e.g is it any more aggressive? What happens. What got me wondering was when my Onc suggested I have my regular cancer … BRAF: A gene on chromsome 7q34 that encodes a protein of the raf/mil family of serine/threonine protein kinases, which plays a role in regulating the MAP kinase/ERKs-signalling pathway, affecting cell division, differentiation and secretion.