BACKGROUND Tumour microvascularity is a significant determinant of prognosis for a large number of different tumours, including uveal melanoma. The development of blood vessels within these and other tumours is partly controlled by soluble pro-angiogenic cytokines, of which basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF) are the best described. METHODS Be...

Uveal melanoma is the most common malignancy of the eye, but little is known about its underlying genetic defects. Melanomas of uveal origin, unlike those of the skin, are rarely familial and have not been linked consistently to mutations in tumor suppressor genes. Here, we investigated the Rb pathway in uveal melanoma. Most tumors displayed strong immunostaining for Rb and p16, suggesting that...

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has a long history in the treatment of uveal melanomas. In the early 1980s, Dennis Robertson, MD, was one of the first to use iodine-125 plaques, the form of brachytherapy most commonly used for treatment of uveal melanomas in the United States today. The plaques used in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS), a multicenter study initiated in 1985 to...

A major challenge in cancer research is the use of appropriate models with which to study a specific biological question. Cell lines have long been used to study cellular processes and the effects of individual molecules because they are easy to use, grow rapidly, produce reproducible results and have a strong track record in research. In uveal melanoma in particular, the absence of animal mode...

PURPOSE To develop a molecular tool to detect circulating tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) in the plasma from patients with uveal melanoma as a marker of tumor burden and monitor treatment efficacy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN A real-time PCR was developed on the basis of bidirectional pyrophosphorolysis-activated polymerization (bi-PAP) for the quantification of ctDNA using 3'blocked primer pairs specific ...

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults, with about 1200-1500 new cases occurring per year in the United States. Metastasis is a frequent occurrence in uveal melanoma, and outcomes are poor once distant spread occurs and no clinically significant chemotherapeutic protocol is so far available. The aim of the present study was to test the effect of various σ1 and σ2 ...

PURPOSE Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignant tumor in adults and is defined by a poor natural outcome, as 50% of patients die from metastases. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize a panel of human uveal melanoma xenografts transplanted into immunodeficient mice. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Ninety tumor specimens were grafted into severe combined immunodefic...

BACKGROUND Many observational studies have assessed the possible association between occupational cooking and uveal melanoma risk, but reported results are controversial. Our goal was to evaluate the association between occupational cooking and uveal melanoma risk by conducting a meta-analysis of observational studies. METHODS PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched through June 2012...

BACKGROUND/AIMS It is well known that light skin pigmentation is a risk factor for cutaneous melanoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the analogous association between choroidal pigmentation and posterior uveal melanoma. METHODS Cross sectional study of 65 consecutive patients diagnosed with posterior uveal melanoma (melanoma group) and 218 consecutive patients referred for general ...

PURPOSE An activating mutation in exon 15 of the BRAF gene has been found in a high proportion of cutaneous pigmented lesions, but only in one case of uveal melanoma. Iris melanoma is the least common uveal melanoma and displays a less aggressive clinical course compared with posterior uveal melanoma. To date, no study has been conducted to investigate the T1799A mutation in iris melanoma. The ...