Subclinical fields of <i>BRAF</i> V600E-mutant melanocytes populate human skin and are enriched around melanoma and naevi
There is a reservoir of oncogene-harbouring melanocytes in normal skin. Our findings challenge the prevailing notion that melanocyte expression of BRAF V600E is inherently tumorigenic. The presence of such fields suggests that the scope of melanoma detection and prevention efforts might be extended beyond visible lesions, to encompass potentially precancerous fields of driver-mutant cells. An author video to accompany this article is available online.
Authors
- Lisa N. Tom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9068-1107)
- Alana L. Welm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1412-1351)
- Zewen Kelvin Tuong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6735-6808)
- Y. Kao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6225-0772)
- Jean-Marie Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1160-0282)
- Darren J. Smit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3288-3659)
- Stephen A. Ainger
- Douglas Grossman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1790-7023)
- H. Peter Soyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4770-561X)
- Stacey B. Andersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1741-2832)
- Duncan Lambie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0102-6638)
- Robert L. Judson‐Torres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6559-0553)
- Joseph E. Powell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5070-4124)
- Kasturee Jagirdar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8761-132X)
- Anne Senabouth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8798-9821)
- Harald Oey
- Katie J. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9000-3226)
- Mitchell Stark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4510-2161)
- Richard A. Sturm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1301-0294)
- Amanda Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0327-6980)
- Helmut Schaider (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3195-2517)
- Anastasia Prokofyeva
- Nancy Ν. Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4244-7890)
Institutions
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of Utah (US)
- Huntsman Cancer Institute (US)
- Princess Alexandra Hospital (AU)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Futures Group (United States) (US)
- Utah Department of Health (US)
- Princess Alexandra Hospital (GB)
- University of Utah Health Care (US)
- Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- British Journal of Dermatology
- Published
- 2025-10-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bjd/ljaf412
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Melanoma and MAPK Pathways
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.81