BRAF and thyroid cancer: Activating BRAF mutations (most prominently BRAF V600E), providing oncogenic signaling through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, are the key molecular driver in a variety of solid tumors including roughly 50% of malignant melanomas, 15% of thyroid cancers, 8% of colorectal cancers, 3% of lung cancers, and 2% of pancreatic cancers.