Dr Vernon Sondak on BRAF Mutations in Metastatic Melanoma
Source: AJMC, July 2022
In this interview, Vernon Sondak, MD, explains the latest approach to treating patients with melanoma with BRAF mutations, including those whose disease has spread to the brain or other sites. Sondak is the chair of the Department of Cutaneous Oncology at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, and holds the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Distinguished Endowed Chair in Cutaneous Oncology, and is also a professor in the Departments of Oncologic Sciences and Surgery at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine.
Conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
AJMC®: It’s estimated that nearly 50% of patients diagnosed with melanoma have activating BRAF mutations. Could you please discuss the difference between BRAF mutations and BRAF wild type? And then do these mutations impact the severity or rate of progression of staging in melanoma?