There is some controversy in previous studies regarding the correlation between the BRAF V600E gene mutation and cervical lymph node metastasis [33–39], and our study showed that the BRAF V600E gene mutation (OR = 6.410, P < 0.001) was an independent risk factor for CLNM, suggesting that it may serve as an important reference in predicting lymph node metastasis. Here, BRAF is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.