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A high prevalence of the activating BRAF mutation, BRAF^T1796A, is observed in adult papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs). The prognosis of childhood PTCs is generally fairly good despite the fact that distant metastases are often documented in these cases. To investigate the differences between the characteristics of childhood and adult PTCs, we analyzed both BRAF^T1796A and RAS mutations in 31 Japanese and 48 post-Chernobyl Ukrainian thyroid carcinomas. In the 31 Japanese childhood cases, BRAF^T1796A was found in only one instance (3.2%), and no RAS mutations were detected. In the Ukrainian subjects, of the 15 childhood and the 33 adolescent and young adult PTCs examined, the BRAF^T1796A mutation was found in zero and eight cases, respectively, and RAS mutations were found in two of the young adult cases. In addition, 17 of the 48 Ukrainian cases showed expression of the RET tyrosine …