PURPOSE Conjunctival melanoma (CM) is a rare but lethal form of cancer. Similar to cutaneous melanoma, CM frequently carries activating mutations in BRAF and NRAS. We studied whether CM as well as conjunctival benign and premalignant melanocytic lesions express targets in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and AKT pathways, and whether specific inhibitors can suppress CM growth in vitr...

OBJECTIVE To examine the reliability of clinical examination and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in distinguishing ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) from benign conjunctival lesions. DESIGN Case-control study. PARTICIPANTS Sixty individuals with conjunctival lesions (OSSN and benign) and 60 age-matched controls with normal conjunctiva presenting to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Ce...

PURPOSE Somatic mutations in codon 209 of the GNAQ gene are the first initiating events to be identified in uveal melanoma. The purpose of this study was to search for GNAQ209 mutations in conjunctival melanocytic lesions. METHODS Forty archival samples of conjunctival melanocytic lesions (conjunctival nevi, primary acquired melanosis, and conjunctival melanoma), 27 samples of uveal melanoma,...

DNA from human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 has been recently identified in conjunctival epithelial dysplasia and carcinoma. In other body sites, HPV 16 is thought to play a role in the development of dysplastic lesions. To further explore the relationship between HPV and conjunctival neoplasia, we examined paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 42 biopsies or excisions from 38 patients whose le...

PURPOSE To evaluate both the efficacy and reliability of the cytologic method in the diagnosis of conjunctival lesions and compare it with the histologic examination. METHODS A prospective study on 31 conjunctival lesions was performed. Samples were obtained with a Kimura spatula. The lesions were, then, surgically removed and sent for histologic examination. The Papanicolaou technique was us...

CASE REPORT A 78-year-old-woman presented with a corneal non-pigmented vascularised tumour of her left eye, of 2 months onset, but with no previous ocular disorders. Surgical excision was performed, and the histopathological study showed the lesion to be an atypical melanocytic nevus of the limbus. DISCUSSION Corneal pigmented lesions tend to occur as a result of conjunctival or sclerocorneal...

T.K.M. a 50-year old Chinese male presented in March 1985 with a four-year history of multiple pigmented growths in the left conjunctiva. Examination showed a main pedunculated pigmented conjunctival growth of 1.5cm x 1.0cm in size with increased vaseularity and irregular surface at the left upper tarsal conjunctiva (Fig. 1) and a few other scattered lesions over the bulbar and the limbal conju...

Little information is currently available concerning loco-regional metastases such as satellite and in transit metastases and their natural history in conjunctival melanoma as compared to cutaneous melanoma. Angiotropism, a marker of extravascular migration of melanoma cells along vascular channels, often appears responsible for microscopic satellite, satellite and in transit metastases develop...

OBJECTIVE Recent studies indicate that WT1 and Bcl2 protein are detected in melanocytic lesions of the skin. We examined, for the first time, WT1 and Bcl2 expression in a variety of conjunctival melanocytic lesions to evaluate their diagnostic utility compared with other melanocytic markers. METHODS Protein expression and localization of WT1 and Bcl2 were studied by means of immunolabeling an...