Mutations of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in breast cancer, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) in non-small cell lung cancer and v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) in melanoma constitute successful examples of how distinct pathophysiological malignancy traits can be characterized. This evidence concerns the gene BRAF and non-small cell lung carcinoma.