BRAF and melanoma: Several years later, activating mutations of the neuroblastoma RAS viral (v‐ras) oncogene homolog (NRAS) gene were identified in human melanomas at a frequency of 20% 23, 24, 25, and in 2002, amplicon sequencing studies of melanoma cell lines resulted in the identification of activating BRAF mutations, most converting a valine at position 600 to a glutamic acid (BRAFV600E), generating a constitutively active kinase in around 50% of cases 26.