BRAF Immunohistochemical Studies of Pediatric Conjunctival Lesions

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence of an activating mutation in the B-Raf proto-oncogene (BRAF) V600E immunoreactivity in pediatric conjunctival lesions. Methods: This retrospective case–control study included 32 pediatric patients who underwent surgical excision of conjunctival lesions between Jan 2019 and May 2022. The collected data included demographic data, clinical features, and histopathologic characteristics of the lesion, including BRAF V600E positivity. The Student t test and the Fisher exact test were used to determine the significance of the associations between clinical variables and BRAF positivity. Results: BRAF immunoreactivity was positive in 11/32 lesions (34%). Age at diagnosis did not correlate with BRAF positivity, with a mean age at diagnosis of 131.7 months for patients with BRAF+ lesions and 134.7 months for those with BRAF− lesions (P > 0.1). No clinical or pathological features were found to be significantly correlated with BRAF positivity, although there was a trend toward BRAF positivity in the presence of cysts (P = 0.072). Conclusions: BRAF reactivity was present in approximately one-third of pediatric conjunctival nevi but does not correlate significantly with unique clinical or histopathological features.