The Prevalence of BRAF Mutations in Patients with Glioma: A Systematic Review
Abstract Background The V600mutation in the v-raf murine sarcoma oncogene homologue B1 (BRAF) enzyme, is a potential clinically actionable target in gliomas. BRAF inhibitors are in wide clinical use for other tumour types, particularly melanoma. The prevalence of this mutation across all gliomas is not fully elucidated and is needed to inform potential screening and treatment. Methods A systematic review using articles on the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (February 1, 2019) was carried out. A meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the prevalence of BRAF mutations in patients with gliomas across all populations and age groups in a clinical setting. Preliminary Results The review identified 75 studies including 6316 patients; the ages of participants ranged from 30 days to 90 years with a mean age of 32.75 years. Across all studies, the average prevalence of BRAF mutations was 16% (95% confidence interval (CI) from 12% to 20%) but estimates were highly variable across studies, ranging from 0% to 78%. The average prevalence of BRAF mutations in paediatric group was 15% (95% CI 10% to 20%) while the average prevalence in the adult group was 9% (95% CI 4% to 16%). Low grade gliomas had an average prevalence of 19% (95% CI 14% to 25%) compared with 7% (95% CI 4% to 11%) in high-grade gliomas. Conclusions BRAF mutations were found to be more prevalent in pediatric patients and in low grade gliomas. Screening these patients for BRAF mutations and treating them with BRAF inhibitors represents a promising area of future medical practice.