©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 7, 2017; 23(17): 3022-3029
Published online May 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i17.3022
Published online May 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i17.3022
BRAF inhibitor treatment of melanoma causing colonic polyps: An alternative hypothesis
Fergal C Kelleher, Department of Medical Oncology, Specialty Certification Medical Oncology Royal College of Physicians United Kingdom, European Certification in Medical Oncology, The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, 24 Dublin, Ireland
Grainne Callaghan, Catriona Gallagher, The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, 24 Dublin, Ireland
Hazel O’Sullivan, Whangarei Base Hospital, Maunu 0110, New Zealand
Author contributions: Kelleher FC conceived, researched, designed, wrote and edited the manuscript; Callaghan G wrote and edited the manuscript; Gallagher C and O’Sullivan H edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors disclose no potential conflicts of interest.
Correspondence to: Fergal Kelleher, MB, BCh, BAO, BMedSc, MSc, AFRCSI, FRCPI, MD, Department of Medical Oncology, Specialty Certification Medical Oncology Royal College of Physicians United Kingdom, European Certification in Medical Oncology, The Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Tallaght, 24 Dublin, Ireland. fergalkelleher@hotmail.com
Telephone: +35-314-14 2000 Fax: +35-314-142689
Received: October 25, 2016
Peer-review started: October 28, 2016
First decision: March 3, 2017
Revised: March 19, 2017
Accepted: April 12, 2017
Article in press: April 12, 2017
Published online: May 7, 2017
Processing time: 193 Days and 13.6 Hours
Peer-review started: October 28, 2016
First decision: March 3, 2017
Revised: March 19, 2017
Accepted: April 12, 2017
Article in press: April 12, 2017
Published online: May 7, 2017
Processing time: 193 Days and 13.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: In this article, we focus on BRAF inhibitors, and their relationship to colonic polyps. As is already known, colonic polyps may arise from BRAF inhibitor treatment of melanoma, possibly due to paradoxical activation of the mitogen-activated protein-kinase pathway. In this article, we postulate a novel hypothesis, that the established phenotypic and molecular characteristics of serrated colonic polyps offer an intriguing insight into the pathobiology of BRAF inhibitor induced colonic polyps.