Ibrahim Khalifeh
American University of Beirut Medical Center, Lebanon
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Surgery Curr Res
Background: B-Raf mutation has been linked to the development of melanocytic tumors inhomogeneous Caucasian cohorts. The role of solar UV radiation (UVR) in B-Raf mutation status is poorly understood. We studied the epidemiology of B-Raf mutation across a spectrum of melanocytic neoplasms in populations with differing UVR rates. Design: Extended testing for 9 mutation types was attempted in 600 melanocytic neoplasms including banal nevi (n=225), dysplastic nevi (n=113), primary (n=172) and metastatic melanomas (n=90). Specimens were collected from 4 countries with increasing UVR rates (kJ/m2/yr): Syria (N=45; UVR=93.5), Lebanon (N=225; UVR=110), Pakistan (N=122; UVR=128) and Saudi Arabia (N=208; UVR=139). UVR was estimated as 21-year averages from The National Center for Atmospheric Research database. Results: Overall BRAF mutation rate was 49% (268/545) and differed significantly by geographic location [34 % Pakistan, 49% Lebanon, 67% Syria and 54% Saudi Arabia (=0.001)], neoplasm type (<0.001) and anatomic location (<0.001) but not with age (=0.07) and gender (=1.0). V600E was the predominant type in 96.3% of the cases. The incidence of melanoma was significantly greater in B-Raf negative (77.6%) vs. B-Raf positive (27.6%) groups. For B-Raf positive, less severe lesions were systematically more frequent (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that B-Raf mutation is predicted by neoplasm type, anatomic and geographic locations. Conclusion: In our Near East cohort, B-Raf mutation rates varied by geographic location but not based on UVR. B-Raf positive status was associated with less severe lesions
After earning his MD from Damascus Medical School in 1999, Ibrahim Khalifeh completed a surgery internship (2000-2001) and pathology residency (2001-2002) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. In 2002, he left for the USA where he did four years of training in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit (2002-2006), Oncologic Pathology and Cytopathology fellowships at MD Anderson Cancer Center (2006-2008), then he joined the University of Alabama where he completed one year of fellowship in Dermatopathology (2008-2009). Khalifeh is a diplomat of the American Board of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Cytopathology and Dermatopathology. He joined the Department of Pathology and Laboratory medicine at AUBMC in 2009 as an assistant professor. He has been involved in multiple projects related to cutaneous leishmania, melanoma, dysplastic nevi and BRA.
E-mail: ik08@aub.edu.lb
