Abstract

Introduction Understanding the prevalence and biology of BRAF gene can improve the treatment methods of cancerous patients. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of BRAF gene mutation in samples of primary and metastatic colorectal cancer using meta-analysis method. Methods We searched PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Ovid and Google Scholar motor engine using MeSH terms of relevant keywords. During the screening phase, titles, abstracts and full texts were reviewed and risk of bias was assessed for all selected papers based on Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) checklist. The results of the primary studies were combined using meta-analysis. Results Of 95 eligible studies entered into the meta-analysis, prevalence of BRAF gene mutation had been assessed among 19,484 primary tumour samples as well as 12,256 metastatic samples. The total prevalence of BRAF gene mutation among primary tumour samples was estimated as of 10.16 (8.09-12.22) in the world, 0.41 (0-1.89) in EMRO region, 10.06 (7.54-12.59) in EURO region, 10.33 (7.24-13.43) in SEARO region and 11.33 (7.29-15.37) in WPRO region. The pooled estimates for BRAF gene mutation in metastatic samples were 6.53 (5.09-7.96), 8.07 (5.57-10.56), 5.38 (3.75-7.02) and 5.55 (1.72-9.38) for all regions, EURO, WPRO and PAHO regions respectively. Conclusion Our results showed evidences of BRAF gene mutation in one-tenth of primary colorectal tumour samples in EURO, PAHO, SEARO and WPRO regions which was considerably higher than that of the EMRO region.