BRAF and differentiated thyroid carcinoma: In papillary thyroid carcinomas, a high rate of activating somatic alterations in genes that encode effectors of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway have been identified, including point mutations in the BRAF and RAS genes, the TERT promotor region, as well as fusions involving the RET, ROS1, NTRK1 and NTRK3 tyrosine kinases.