{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:07:00Z","timestamp":1760234820180,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,18]],"date-time":"2021-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1623974400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Cutaneous malignant melanoma is an aggressive neoplasm. In advanced cases, the therapeutic choice depends on the mutational status of BRAF. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNA) is often applied to the management of patients affected by melanoma, mainly for the diagnosis of metastases. The evaluation of BRAF mutational status by sequencing technique on cytological samples may be inconvenient, as it is a time and biomaterial-consuming technique. Recently, BRAF immunocytochemistry (ICC) was applied for the evaluation of BRAF V600E mutational status. Although it may be useful mainly in cytological samples, data about BRAF ICC on cytological samples are missing. Methods: We performed BRAF ICC on a series of 50 FNA samples of metastatic melanoma. BRAF molecular analysis was performed on the same cytological samples or on the corresponding histological samples. Molecular analysis was considered the gold standard. Results: BRAF ICC results were adequate in 49 out of 50 (98%) cases, positive in 15 out of 50 (30%) cases and negative in 34 out of 50 (68%) of cases. Overall, BRAF ICC sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value results were 88.2%, 100%, 100% and 94.1%, respectively. The diagnostic performance of BRAF ICC results was perfect when molecular evaluation was performed on the same cytological samples. Hyperpigmentation represents the main limitation of the technique. Conclusions: BRAF ICC is a rapid, cost-effective method for detecting BRAF V600E mutation in melanoma metastases, applicable with high diagnostic performance to cytological samples. It could represent the first step to evaluate BRAF mutational status in cytological samples, mainly in poorly cellular cases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics11061110","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,18]],"date-time":"2021-06-18T11:19:20Z","timestamp":1624015160000},"page":"1110","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Predictive Evaluation on Cytological Sample of Metastatic Melanoma: The Role of BRAF Immunocytochemistry in the Molecular Era"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Andrea","family":"Ronchi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pathology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Montella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pathology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Zito Marino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pathology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2408-6091","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Caraglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Grimaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1413-8214","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Argenziano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elvira","family":"Moscarella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriella","family":"Brancaccio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teresa","family":"Troiani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology Unit, Department of Precision Medicine, Universit\u00e0 della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Napolitano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology Unit, Department of Precision Medicine, Universit\u00e0 della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8340-3184","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Renato","family":"Franco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pathology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Immacolata","family":"Cozzolino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pathology Unit, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"394","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21492","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"68","author":"Bray","year":"2018","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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