BRAF and melanoma: We found that BRAF gene is somatically mutated in NHLs, indicating that RAS–RAF kinase pathway in some NHLs may be regulated by somatic mutations of BRAF. Despite the low frequency of BRAF mutation in NHL compared with that of malignant melanoma, our data suggest that alteration of RAS–RAF kinase pathway by BRAF mutation may play an important role in NHL carcinogenesis.