V-erb-a erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 4(ERBB4) has been reported to be somatically mutated in 19% of melanoma cases.To investigate the prevalence of ERBB4 mutations in melanoma patients from southern China,we analyzed 117 formalin-fixed,paraffin-embedded melanoma samples archived in the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center.A matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS) platform was used to screen for mutations.No ERBB4 hotspot mutations were detected.Our results indicate that ERBB4 mutations may play a limited role in melanomas in China;therefore,targeting the ERBB4 mutation in melanoma patients from southern China may not be a promising strategy. V-erb-a erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 4 (ERBB4) has been reported to be so mutated in 19% of melanoma cases. To investigate the prevalence of ERBB4 mutations in melanoma patients from southern China, we analyzed 117 formalin-fixed, paraffin -embedded melanoma samples archived in the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. A matrix-assisted laser desorption / ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) platform was used to screen for mutations. No ERBB4 hotspot mutations were detected . These results indicate that ERBB4 mutation may play a limited role in melanomas in China; therefore, targeting the ERBB4 mutation in melanoma patients from southern China may not be a promising strategy.