BRAFV600E/pTERT double mutated papillary thyroid cancers exhibit immune gene suppression

BRAFV600E mutation (BRAF ) is common in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), and most patients have an excellent outcome. However, a TERT-promoter mutation (pTERT ) in the presence of BRAF (BRAF pTERT ) has been demonstrated to confer a more aggressive behavior to PTC. Lymphocytic infiltration is often present in PTC. In this study, we sought to decipher the relationship between the BRAF and pTERT mutations and immune gene dysregulation in tumor samples from a cohort of 147 samples of PTC. The abundance of 770 immune gene transcripts was determined by multiprex capture/detection and digital counting of mRNA transcripts using the NanoString nCounter PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel. We identified 40 immune transcripts differentially expressed in BRAF pTERT BRAF pTERT wildtype (pTERT ) (