purpose : to assess the results of brachytherapy in patients with recurrent or incomplete excised conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (scc) and malignant melanoma. methods : three patients underwent brachytherapy of one eye and one patient underwent brachytherapy of both eyes with ruthenium-106 (ru-106) plaques, all of them had a history of incomplete resection or recurrence of the tumor after...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The authors investigated the expression of S100A1, S100A6, S100B, MelanA, and CEA in conjunctival naevi, primary acquired melanosis (PAM), conjunctival melanoma, and uveal melanoma in order to assess their potential usefulness in the pathological differential diagnosis of these entities. METHODS Paraffin embedded sections of 18 conjunctival naevi, 14 PAM, 16 conjunctival melan...

In our recently published study (1), we describe genetic similarities between conjunctival and cutaneousmelanoma and propose that the treatment rationale for patients with metastasized conjunctival melanoma should be adapted to that for metastasized cutaneous melanoma. Weber and colleagues (2) responded to this, reporting that a BRAF V600E–mutant metastasized conjunctival melanoma patient treat...

AIM In this review, we outline similarities between conjunctival and skin melanoma as well as the effectiveness of combined BRAF/MEK inhibition in melanoma, and discuss the applicability of these agents in conjunctival melanoma. METHODS The study provides a PubMed literature review. RESULTS Conjunctival melanoma and skin melanoma are genetically and phenotypically related. Both tumors typic...

PURPOSE Conjunctival melanoma is a rare but potentially deadly tumor of the eye. Despite effective local therapies, recurrence and metastasis remain frequent. Once the tumor has metastasized, treatment options are limited and the prognosis is poor. To date, little is known of the genetic alterations in conjunctival melanomas. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We conducted genetic analysis of 78 conjunctiva...

Invasive conjunctival melanoma can arise de novo, from nevus or from melanoma in situ. The literature reports that after treatment of invasive conjunctival melanoma more than 50% of patients develop local tumor recurrence, with 20% eventually requiring orbital exenteration and 20-30% developing fatal metastasis. Our results have improved since we replaced adjuvant cryotherapy with radiotherapy ...

Background/Aims. To report the safety and efficacy of strontium (Sr(90)) beta radiotherapy as adjuvant treatment for conjunctival melanoma. Methods. A retrospective cohort study was undertaken from 1999 to 2007 of all patients who underwent Sr(90) beta radiotherapy for incompletely excised conjunctival melanoma. Failure of treatment was defined as recurrence of a conjunctival melanoma at the sa...

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...

AIMS To evaluate cell growth and the pattern of p53 suppressor gene expression in atypical primary acquired melanosis (PAM) and in recurrent conjunctival melanoma. METHODS Eighteen specimens of PAM with atypia and 24 specimens, comprising early and late lesions, from 12 patients with conjunctival melanoma were stained for the proliferating cell nuclear antigen using the PC10 antibody, and for...