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Somatic mutations of BRAF and NRAS oncogenes are thought to be among the first steps in melanoma initiation, but these mutations alone are insufficient to cause tumor progression. Our group studied the distinct genomic imbalances of primary melanomas harboring different BRAF or NRAS genotypes. We also aimed to highlight regions of change commonly seen together in different melanoma subgroups. Array comparative genomic hybridization was performed to assess copy number changes in 47 primary melanomas. BRAF and NRAS were screened for mutations by melting curve analysis. Reverse transcription PCR and fluorescence in-situ hybridization were performed to confirm the array comparative genomic hybridization results. Pairwise comparisons revealed distinct genomic profiles between melanomas harboring different mutations. Primary melanomas with the BRAF mutation exhibited more frequent …