Paediatric uveal melanoma

Molecular testing prognostic of low risk in epithelioid uveal melanoma in a child

AIMS

To characterise a histologically unusual paediatric uveal melanoma by gene expression and karyotypic profiling and assess prognosis.

METHODS

The tumour was studied by histopathology, karyotype analysis, single nucleotide polymorphism and gene expression profile analysis for correlation with clinical outcome.

RESULTS

The tumour had predominantly epithelioid histology. Karyotype analysis showed none of the poor prognosis features normally associated with uveal melanoma. single nucleotide polymorphism analysis revealed no imbalance at chromosome 3. Gene expression profiling indicated low risk disease.

CONCLUSIONS

We report a child remaining relapse-free 6 years after diagnosis of a very rare uveal melanoma, with poor prognosis epithelioid histology, but gene expression profiling that accurately predicted low risk disease.

A Rare Case of Congenital Ocular Melanoma in a 3-Year-Old Child

Ocular melanoma in the pediatric population is extremely rare, and the congenital variety is even rarer. We present a case of a 3-year-old female child presenting with a congenital ocular melanoma with no preexisting conditions, managed by surgical removal of the affected eye followed by postoperative radiotherapy. We also discuss the various features of the condition reviewing the literature.