Introduction:

Melanoma accounts for 4% of all malignant skin tumors, but is responsible for 80% of cancer deaths in this site. The emergence of therapies directed against the BRAF mutation has changed the prognosis, hence the importance of identifying this mutation in patients with histological diagnosis of malignant melanoma since the rate of mutations of the BRAF oncogene is high.

Objective:

to describe the diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic implications of the determination of the mutation of the BRAF V600E gene in cutaneous malignant melanoma.

Method:

literature review via PUBMED with the introduction of the following search terms: melanoma, melanoma AND genetics, melanoma AND BRAF mutation, melanoma AND BRAF V600E AND prognosis. 72 publications were identified.

Results:

multiple studies have corroborated the high frequency of the mutated BRAF V600E oncogene in cutaneous melanoma, offering the possibility that through the identification of this alteration it can contribute to improve the diagnosis and to guarantee a treatment directed specifically against the activity of BRAF.

Conclusions:

the identification of the BRAF oncogene mutation represents a prognostic factor and may represent an effective therapeutic target.

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