Screening Genetic Alterations of Biomarkers BRAF, ROS-1, and HER2 by Immunohistochemistry in Ovarian Carcinomas for Targeted Therapy

Ovarian neoplasms are group of aggressive and lethal diseases. Surgical and radiochemical therapies on ovarian neoplasm are conventional approaches but with limited progress in years. Targeted therapy with drugs targeting specific genetic alterations and/or protein molecules have brought new hope fighting against ovarian neoplasms. Targeted therapy on genetic alterations of BRAF, ROS-1 and HER2 have been carried out in melanoma, lung cancer and breast cancer with promising results. However, knowledge of these genetic alterations in ovarian neoplasms is limited and deserves further exploration. In this study, we screened genetic alterations of BRAF, ROS-1 and HER2 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on a variety of ovarian neoplasm, including 13 mucinous carcinomas, 12 clear cell carcinomas, 9 endometrioid carcinomas, 9 serous borderline tumors and 10 high grade serous tumor of fallopian tube. Although ROS-1 and HER2 abnormalities were not identified, BRAF V600E mutations were identified in 2 of 9 (22%) in borderline serous tumors. This finding has provided a knowledge base to further study the possibility of targeted therapy using BRAF inhibitor, such as vemurafeni, on borderline serous tumor of the ovary. [N A J Med Sci. 2017;10(2):53-55. DOI: 10.7156/najms.2017.1002053]