【】 Purpose To analyze the clinical utility of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) combined with BRAF V600E mutation testing in diagnosis of thyroid papillary cancer (PTC). Methods The BRAF V600E mutation status were assessed in FNAC specimens of 181 patients with PTC before operations. Diagnostic performances of cytology and cytology with BRAF V600E mutation testing were compared with postoperative pathological results. Results Taking pathological results as golden standard, the sensitivity was 70.7% and the accuracy was 74.4% for FNAC. The sensitivity of BRAF mutation detection was 64.6%, and the accuracy was 69.1%. The sensitivity was 86.2% and the accuracy was 87.9% for FNAC combined with BRAF V600E mutation testing. Conclusion FNAC combined with BRAF V600E mutation testing can significantly improve the accuracy of diagnosis of PTC.