Artificial intelligence and machine learning a new frontier in the diagnosis of ocular adnexal tumors: A review

In our article, we explore the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in oculo-oncology, focusing on the diagnosis and management of ocular adnexal tumors. Delving into the intricacies of adnexal conditions such as conjunctival melanoma and squamous conjunctival carcinoma, the study emphasizes recent breakthroughs, such as Artificial Intelligence-driven early detection methods. While acknowledging challenges like the scarcity of specialized datasets and issues in standardizing image capture, the research underscores encouraging patient acceptance, as demonstrated in melanoma diagnosis studies. The abstract calls for overcoming obstacles, conducting clinical trials, establishing global regulatory norms and fostering collaboration between ophthalmologists and Artificial Intelligence experts. Overall, the article envisions Artificial Intelligence's imminent transformative impact on ocular and periocular cancer diagnosis.

Lacrimal Drainage System and Nasal Cavity Melanoma after Complete Treatment of Conjunctival Melanoma

Malignant melanoma of the conjunctiva is a rare tumor of the ocular surface with potential fatal consequences and a high likelihood of recurrence. Although routes for extending the tumor, including local, hematogenous, and lymphatogenous, are pretty straightforward, the indirect extension through free-floating tumoral cells to the nasolacrimal duct is not described thoroughly. We report a case of malignant melanoma of the conjunctiva which presented with local recurrence in the intranasal cavity and lacrimal sac two years after the primary surgery (without involvement of the ocular surface and punctum on the second occasion). However, there was no evidence of distant metastasis on either occasion. This case demonstrates the possible noncontiguous spreading route of melanoma tumoral cells and highlights the need for attention to the surgical technique, and careful follow-up to detect further disease activity.

Combined Osteopontin Blockade and Type 2 Classical Dendritic Cell Vaccination as Effective Synergetic Therapy for Conjunctival Melanoma

Angiogenesis and immune protection are essential at the onset of tumorigenesis. Angiogenesis serves to nourish the tumor, and prevention of immune defenses, for example, by dendritic cells (DCs), allows tumor growth. In this study, we investigated whether there are factors with dual functions that are both angiogenic and immunomodulatory and represent a therapeutic target. We analyzed 1) innate immune responses intratumorally and in draining lymph nodes and 2) angiogenic factors in conjunctival melanoma (CM), a potentially lethal malignant tumor at the ocular surface whose immune and vascular responses are largely unknown. For this purpose, an HGF-Cdk4R24C model in immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice was used and revealed that CD103- type 2 classical DC (cDC2s) were the most abundant DC subtype in healthy conjunctiva, whereas in CM, CD103- cDC2s, CD103+ type 1 cDCs, monocyte-derived DCs, and plasmacytoid DCs were significantly increased. In our analysis of angiogenic factors in CM, the examination of 53 angiogenesis-related factors that might interact with DCs identified osteopontin (OPN) as a major tumor-derived protein that interacts with DCs. Consistent with these findings, 3) a dual therapeutic strategy that inhibited tumor cell function by an OPN blocking Ab while enhancing the immune response by cDC2 vaccination resulted in 35% failure of tumor development. Moreover, tumor progression, monocyte-derived DC infiltration, and intratumoral angiogenesis were significantly reduced, whereas survival and CD8+ T cell infiltration were increased in treated mice compared with the control group. Therefore, we identified OPN blockade in combination with cDC2 vaccination as a potential future therapeutic intervention for early stages of CM by combining antiangiogenic and host immune stimulating effects.

Brachytherapy in the prevention of recurrence of conjunctival melanoma : Results of a case report in a University Hospital in Valladolid, Spain

AIM

Describe the results of brachytherapy in the prevention of recurrences in conjunctival melanoma (CM) and describe a dosimetric protocol.

METHODS

Retrospective and descriptive case report. Eleven consecutive patients with a confirmed histopathological diagnosis of CM treated with brachytherapy between 1992 and 2023 were reviewed. Demographic, clinical, and dosimetric characteristics as well as recurrences were recorded. Quantitative variables were represented by the mean, median, and standard deviation, and qualitative variables by frequency of distribution.

RESULTS

Of a total of 27 patients diagnosed with CM, 11 who were treated with brachytherapy were included in the study (7 female; mean age at time of treatment: 59.4 years). Mean follow-up was 58.82 months (range 11-141 months). Of a total of 11 patients, 8 were treated with ruthenium-106 and 3 with iodine-125. Brachytherapy was performed in 6 patients as adjuvant therapy after biopsy-proven CM on histopathology and in the other 5 patients after recurrence. The mean dose was 85 Gy in all cases. Recurrences outside of the previously irradiated area were observed in 3 patients, metastases were diagnosed in 2 patients, and one case of an ocular adverse event was reported.

CONCLUSION

Brachytherapy is an adjuvant treatment option in invasive conjunctival melanoma. In our case report, only one patient had an adverse effect. However, this topic requires further research. Furthermore, each case is unique and should be evaluated by experts in a multidisciplinary approach involving ophthalmologists, radiation oncologists, and physicists.

Genetic characterization of advanced conjunctival melanoma and response to systemic treatment

BACKGROUND

Conjunctival melanoma is a rare type of ocular melanoma, which is prone to local recurrence and metastasis and can lead to patient death. Novel therapeutic strategies have revolutionized cutaneous melanoma management. The efficacy of these therapies in conjunctival melanoma, however, has not been evaluated in larger patient cohorts.

METHODS

In this multi-center retrospective cohort study with additional screening of the ADOREG database, data were collected from 34 patients with metastatic conjunctival melanoma who received targeted therapy (TT) (BRAF ± MEK inhibitors) or immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) (anti-PD-1 ± anti-CTLA4). In 15 cases, tissue was available for targeted next-generation-sequencing (611 genes) and RNA sequencing. Driver mutations, tumor mutational burden, copy number variations and inflammatory/IFNγ gene expression signatures were determined.

RESULTS

Genetic characterization identified frequent BRAF (46.7%, 7/15), NRAS (26.7%, 4/15), NF1 (20%, 3/15), and TERT promoter (46.7%, 7/15) mutations. UV associated C>T and CC>TT mutations were common. Median follow-up time after start of first TT or ICI therapy was 13.2 months. In 26 patients receiving first-line ICI, estimated one-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 42.0%, PFS and overall survival (OS) 6.2 and 18.0 months, respectively. First-line TT was given to 8 patients, estimated one-year PFS rate was 54.7%, median PFS and OS 12.6 and 29.1 months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support the role of UV irradiation in conjunctival melanoma and the genetic similarity with cutaneous melanoma. Conjunctival melanoma patients with advanced disease benefit from both targeted therapies (BRAF ± MEK inhibitors) and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Primary acquired melanosis/melanoma: utility of conjunctival map biopsy

AIM

To assess the role of map biopsy in patients with conjunctival primary acquired melanosis (PAM)/melanoma.

METHODS

Retrospective case series of 400 conjunctival biopsy samples of 51 unique patients in a tertiary referral centre.

RESULTS

Each patient underwent one diagnostic biopsy and several additional map biopsies (range 2-7) providing a total of 400 samples for the analysis (55 diagnostic biopsies, 345 map biopsies). The median age was 63 years old (range 20-88) with women representing 67% of the cases. Histopathological findings were graded as negative for melanosis/normal (grade 0), melanosis without atypia (grade 1), melanosis with mild atypia (grade 2), melanosis with severe atypia (grade 3) or invasive melanoma (grade 4). Clinicopathologic concordance was observed in the majority of the map biopsies (313, 91%) (positive: clinical+/path+ (57,17%), negative: clinical-/path- (256, 74%)). Three discordant samples (clinical-/path+) represented PAM sine pigmento. The histopathological spectrum of atypia was absent (40, 73%) or limited (11, 20%) in the majority of cases with tendency to cluster as low-grade or high-grade atypia. Map biopsy led to the identification of six patients (11%) with severe atypia, requiring topical mitomycin (MMC). Similarly, in 29 cases, periodic observation without topical MMC was recommended. One case of invasive melanoma transformation occurred in the MMC-treated group.

CONCLUSIONS

Map biopsy enhances overall assessment of the anatomic and pathologic extent, impacting use of adjuvant topical chemotherapy. In absence of map biopsy, it would be impossible to diagnose PAM sine pigmento. Additional corroborative work is needed to validate our observations.

Use of interferon alpha 2b to manage conjunctival primary acquired melanosis and conjunctival melanoma

Primary acquired melanosis (PAM) is acquired conjunctival pigmentation that can give rise to conjunctival melanoma (CM), a malignant tumor of the bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva or the caruncle. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice for this neoplasm. Topical chemotherapy is also used for patients with PAM with atypia or CM, hand in patients with recurrent or extensive disease, this may be an important option. Of the several chemotherapeutic drugs used, topical interferon alpha 2b (IFN-α2b) has become popular because of its low toxicity. Clinical evidence from case reports and case series supports the efficacy of IFN-α2b as the preferred adjuvant treatment for PAM and CM. In addition, topical IFN-α2b has been successfully applied to melanocytic tumors refractory to other treatments, such as cryotherapy and topical mitomycin C. In patients with locally advanced CM, the combination of IFN-α2b and systemic immunotherapy may serve as an alternative to exenteration. Given the low frequency of CM, long-term multicenter studies are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of IFN-α2b for preventing local recurrence and distant metastasis.

New Therapeutic Approaches for Conjunctival Melanoma-What We Know So Far and Where Therapy Is Potentially Heading: Focus on Lymphatic Vessels and Dendritic Cells

Conjunctival melanoma (CM) accounts for 5% of all ocular melanomas and arises from malignantly transformed melanocytes in the conjunctival epithelium. Current therapies using surgical excision in combination with chemo- or cryotherapy still have high rates for recurrences and metastatic disease. Lately, novel signal transduction-targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitors like cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors, programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) receptor inhibitors, BRAF- or MEK-inhibitors for systemic treatment of melanoma have improved the outcome even for unresectable cutaneous melanoma, improving patient survival dramatically. The use of these therapies is now also recommended for CM; however, the immunological background of CM is barely known, underlining the need for research to better understand the immunological basics when treating CM patients with immunomodulatory therapies. Immune checkpoint inhibitors activate tumor defense by interrupting inhibitory interactions between tumor cells and T lymphocytes at the so-called checkpoints. The tumor cells exploit these inhibitory targets on T-cells that are usually used by dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are antigen-presenting cells at the forefront of immune response induction. They contribute to immune tolerance and immune defense but in the case of tumor development, immune tolerance is often prevalent. Enhancing the immune response via DCs, interfering with the lymphatic pathways during immune cell migration and tumor development and specifically targeting tumor cells is a major therapeutic opportunity for many tumor entities including CM. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the function of lymphatic vessels in tumor growth and immune cell transport and continues to compare DC subsets in CM with related melanomas, such as cutaneous melanoma and mucosal melanoma.

Adopting low-shot deep learning for the detection of conjunctival melanoma using ocular surface images

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the present study was to investigate low-shot deep learning models applied to conjunctival melanoma detection using a small dataset with ocular surface images.

METHODS

A dataset was composed of anonymized images of four classes; conjunctival melanoma (136), nevus or melanosis (93), pterygium (75), and normal conjunctiva (94). Before training involving conventional deep learning models, two generative adversarial networks (GANs) were constructed to augment the training dataset for low-shot learning. The collected data were randomly divided into training (70%), validation (10%), and test (20%) datasets. Moreover, 3D melanoma phantoms were designed to build an external validation set using a smartphone. The GoogleNet, InceptionV3, NASNet, ResNet50, and MobileNetV2 architectures were trained through transfer learning and validated using the test and external validation datasets.

RESULTS

The deep learning model demonstrated a significant improvement in the classification accuracy of conjunctival lesions using synthetic images generated by the GAN models. MobileNetV2 with GAN-based augmentation displayed the highest accuracy of 87.5% in the four-class classification and 97.2% in the binary classification for the detection of conjunctival melanoma. It showed an accuracy of 94.0% using 3D melanoma phantom images captured using a smartphone camera.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study described a low-shot deep learning model that can detect conjunctival melanomas using ocular surface images. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to develop a deep learning model to detect conjunctival melanoma using a digital imaging device such as smartphone camera.

Secondary orbital exenteration for conjunctival melanoma: A study of 25 cases

INTRODUCTION

The treatment of conjunctival melanoma is most often conservative, but exenteration is sometimes necessary in order to achieve local control of the disease. It can be performed as a primary procedure in cases of locally advanced disease or as a secondary procedure after one or more recurrences. No benefit to secondary exenteration on patient survival has been demonstrated to date for conjunctival melanoma, and it is generally considered a palliative procedure.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Single-center retrospective study performed in the ocular oncology department of the Institut Curie (Paris, France). We included all patients who underwent secondary orbital exenteration for conjunctival melanoma between January 2008 and January 2016.

RESULTS

Twenty-five patients underwent secondary exenteration for conjunctival melanoma. The maximum number of local recurrences prior to exenteration was six. Metastases occurred in 11 patients after exenteration and were more common when there was a greater tumor thickness on histology, if the tumor had not been treated initially in an ocular oncology center, or if there had been a greater number of local recurrences before the secondary exenteration was performed. Seventy-five percent of patients developed metastases when the exenteration was performed after 5 or 6 local recurrences.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that early secondary exenteration (i.e. after a number of local recurrences less than or equal to 4) may reduce the occurrence of metastases (and therefore improve patient survival) in conjunctival melanoma. Thus, secondary exenteration might be a curative surgery in some patients with recurrent disease.

Incidence and Survival of Patients With Conjunctival Melanoma in Europe

Importance

Conjunctival melanoma (CM) is a rare ocular tumor. Estimates of incidence and survival of patients with CM are important to researchers and policy makers.

Objective

To estimate incidence and survival of patients with CM in Europe.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This population-based cohort study used data from 41 European cancer registries adhering to the RARECAREnet project. All individuals diagnosed as having malignant CM from January 1995 to December 2007 coded according to the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition codes C69.0 (conjunctiva) and 8720-8780 (melanoma) were included. Analysis began March 2019.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Trend estimates for incidence and for 5-year relative survival (the ratio of the measured survival of patients to the expected survival in the general population for the same country, age, sex, and calendar year). Crude, age-standardized, and bayesian incidence rates were calculated. Five-year relative survival was calculated by the Ederer II method with the cohort and period approach.

Results

A total of 724 patients 15 years or older (512 [70.7%] were 55 years or older; 366 [50.6%] were female) were analyzed with an overall crude incidence of CM (per 1 000 000 person/y) of 0.46 (95% CI, 0.42-0.49). Crude incidence was similar in men and women (0.48; 95% CI, 0.44-0.54 and 0.46; 95% CI, 0.41-0.51, respectively) and increased with age. Age-standardized incidence increased over time only in men and was the highest in Norway and the Netherlands (more than 0.70). Only 1 case in 14 years was estimated to occur in Iceland vs about 20 cases per year in large countries such as France and Germany. Percentage of 5-year survival (83.5 overall; 95% CI, 78.6-87.3) was not different between adult and elderly patients but showed large geographical disparities across European regions (range, 66-89) and improved markedly in male patients (from 76 in 1995-1998 to 86 in 2003-2007, with a difference of 10.2 [95% CI, 1.3-19.2]; P < .05) becoming similar to that of women in the last period.

Conclusions and Relevance

Although these data are only available through 2007 and based on registries not uniformly covering the European population, the study provides the first Europe-wide estimates of the incidence and relative survival of patients with CM using population-based data. Geographical differences in survival indicate room for outcome improvement in Southern, Northern, and Eastern European countries.

Clinical treatment options for early-stage and advanced conjunctival melanoma

Conjunctival melanoma (CM) is an ocular malignant tumor arising from the bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva and from the caruncle. The treatment of early-stage CM is wide local excision, followed by cryotherapy to the margins and adjuvant therapy postoperatively. Advanced CM has a poor prognosis, and there is no consensus on its management. With the development of precision medicine, the identification of genetic alterations assumes great importance. The genetic characteristics of CM, such as BRAF, NRAS, and NF1 mutations, may provide potential therapeutic targets. For locally advanced tumors and metastatic disease, targeted therapy such as BRAF inhibitors and MEK inhibitors in vitro show therapeutic benefit. Some individual case reports indicate their potential effectiveness in advanced CM. In addition, immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as programmed cell death-1 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 inhibitors, have been successfully used for advanced cutaneous melanoma and may be effective in CM. Limited clinical case reports found immune checkpoint inhibitors effective in advanced CM. More clinical studies are needed.

[Diagnosis and Therapy of Benign and Malignant Tumors of the Conjunctiva]

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of different benign and malignant epibulbar tumors. Categories can be made of the age of manifestation (paediatric tumors versus tumors of adults), the originating cell types (squamous cell tumors, melanocytic tumors, lymphomas or germ cell tumors) or genesis (proliferative, infectious or degenerating tumors). Most epibulbar tumors show lesions on the conjunctiva or the cornea. These can be flesh coloured or pigmented efflorescences with leucoplakias or hyperkeratosis. Especially malignant tumors show atypical growth of blood vessels, are often prominent and can have ulcerations or bleeding. In case of tumor growth, change in pigmentations or atypical bleedings a malign tumor can be suspected. The diagnosis should be confirmed using histopathological evaluation after an incisional or excisional biopsy. Molecular pathologic techniques extend the diagnostic tools and have an implication on the therapy of metastatic tumors. Therapeutic options of the malignant tumors (apart from lymphomas) are chirurgical excision preferably with a no touch technique and afterwards an adjuvant therapy consisting of radiation or cryotherapy. A topical chemotherapy with Mitomycin C, 5-Fluorouracil or Interferon α2b can be effective to reduce persisting precancerosis and reduce recurrences. In case of a suspected malignant tumor it is advisable to refer the patient to an ophthalmo-oncologic center to plan and ensure interdisciplinary therapy.

Benigne und maligne Bindehauttumoren in Diagnostik und Therapie

Bindehauttumoren betreffen in Diagnostik und Therapie alle Bereiche der augenärztlichen Praxis. Das beginnt mit der klinischen Kontrolle von Bindehautnävi und anderen benignen Tumoren, der Einschätzung von entzündlichen Pseudotumoren und ihrer Abgrenzung zu Präkanzerosen oder vernarbenden Erkrankungen und mündet in der hochspezialisierten und interdisziplinären Führung onkologischer Patienten mit Lymphomen, hochmalignen Melanomen oder invasiven Plattenepithelkarzinomen.

Image Analysis of 3D Conjunctival Melanoma Cell Cultures Following Electrochemotherapy

Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures represent small avascular tumors in vitro and simulate some of the biological characteristics of solid tumors, enhancing the evaluation of anticancer drug efficacy. Automated image analysis can be used for the assessment of tumor growth and documentation of changes in the size parameters of 3D tumor spheroids following anticancer treatments such as electrochemotherapy. The objective of this article is to assess the effect of various electroporation (EP) conditions (500-750 Volts/cm, 8-20 pulses, 100 µs pulse duration, 5 Hz repetition rate) combined with different bleomycin concentrations (1-2.5 ug/mL) on normal epithelial (HCjE-Gi) and conjunctival melanoma (CRMM1, CRMM2) 3D-cell cultures, through an automated image analysis and a comparison with standard histological assays. A reduction in tumor mass with loss of cell definition was observed after ECT (750 Volts/cm with eight pulses and 500 Volts/cm with 20 pulses) with bleomycin (1 μg/mL and 2.5 μg/mL) in the histological and immunohistochemical analyses of 3D CRMM1 and CRMM2 spheroids, whereas an increase in volume and a decrease in sphericity was documented in the automated image analysis and 3D visualization of both melanoma cell lines. For all other treatment conditions and for the HCjE-Gi cell line, no significant changes to their morphological features were observed. Image analysis with integrated software tools provides an accessible and comprehensive platform for the preliminary selection of homogenous spheroids and for the monitoring of drug efficacy, implementing the traditional screening methods.

Orbital exenteration and conjunctival melanoma: a 14-year study at the Jules Gonin Eye Hospital

Purpose

To report our 14-year experience with orbital exenteration and assess risk factors for poor prognosis by focusing on conjunctival melanoma.

Patients and method

A retrospective study was conducted in our tertiary care centre (Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland) between 2003 and 2017. Inclusion criteria were patients aged  ≥18 years with a follow-up >12 months, without metastatic spread at the time of surgery. Data recorded were age, gender, tumour histology, surgical technique, postoperative complications, surgical margin status, local recurrence, postoperative radiation beam therapy and metastatic status.

Results

Twenty-five patients with a mean age of 63.2 years (38–92) were included. Conjunctival melanoma was the most frequently identified tumour (n = 14, 56%) followed by conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (n = 4, 16%), sebaceous carcinoma (n = 3, 12%), choroidal melanoma (n = 2, 8%) and basal cell carcinoma (n = 2, 8%). Eighteen tumours (72%) originated from the conjunctival tissue. Clear surgical margins were achieved in 21 (84%) patients. Fourteen (56%) patients experienced distant metastases and died from metastatic spread after a mean follow-up of 52.3 months (6–120). The 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) was 96%, 72% and 60%, respectively. In the univariate analysis, positive surgical margins, local recurrence and metachronous metastases were associated with a decreased OS (p = 0.002, p = 0.005 and p = 0.007, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, positive surgical margins and metachronous metastases were also associated with a decreased OS (p = 0.02 and p = 0.042, respectively). Conjunctival melanoma was not associated with a poorer prognosis (p = 0.280).

Conclusion

Free surgical margins are needed to increase OS. To achieve clearer surgical margins, neoadjuvant targeted therapies/immunotherapies may be considered.

Oncologic and visual outcomes after postoperative proton therapy of localized conjunctival melanomas

Introduction

conjunctival melanomas have high local relapse rates. Oncologic and visual outcomes can be improved with proton therapy and no-touch surgery.

Material and methods

a monocentric retrospective study of consecutive patients treated with surgery and proton therapy for conjunctival melanoma was conducted. Proton therapy was performed to a total dose of 45 Grays physical dose delivered in eight fractions over two weeks.

Results

Ninety-two patients were included. The mean age was 63-year-old. 65.2% of patients had primary acquired melanosis. The mean tumor thickness and diameter was 2.5 mm and 7.0 mm respectively. The clinical stage was T1 in 71.6% of cases, with a quadrangular involvement of more than 90° in 69% of cases. Conjunctival melanomas were of epithelioid cell-type in 40% of cases. Mean follow-up was 4.7 years. Five-year local failure rate was 33.2%. Of 25 local recurrences, 14 were marginal/out-of-field, 4 in-field, others were undetermined. First surgery at expert center resulted in 24.3% of local failure at 5 years versus 38.7% if performed elsewhere (p = 0.41). Salvage exenteration was performed in 13 patients. Tumor stage and quadrangular involvement were significant factors for local failure. Five-year progression-free survival and cause-specific death rates were 61.5 and 3.6%. Stage and epithelioid type were associated with poorer progression-free survival. Trophic toxicity occurred in 22.9% of patients and was treated locally, with grafts in 7 patients. Glaucoma and cataract occurred in 13 and 22 patients respectively. Prognostic factors for visual deterioration were age, tumor extent (multifocality, quadrangular involvement > 180°) and cryotherapy.

Conclusions

5-year local failure rate after postoperative proton therapy for conjunctival melanoma was of 33.2%. Radiation-induced complications were overall manageable.

Melanoma of the eyelid and periocular skin: Histopathologic classification and molecular pathology

Cutaneous melanoma, a potentially lethal malignancy of the periocular skin, represents only a small proportion of the roughly 87,000 new cases of cutaneous melanoma diagnosed annually in the United States. Most of our understanding of melanoma of the eyelid skin is extrapolated from studies of cutaneous melanoma located elsewhere. Recent years have witnessed major breakthroughs in molecular biology and genomics of cutaneous melanoma, some of which have led to the development of targeted therapies. The molecular insights have also kindled interest in rethinking how cutaneous melanomas are classified and assessed for risk. We provide a synopsis of the epidemiology, histopathologic classification, and clinical experience of eyelid melanoma since 1990 and then review major advances in the molecular biology of cutaneous melanoma, exploring how this impacts our understanding of classification and predicting risk.

A retrospective review of conjunctival melanoma: Presentation, treatment and evolution

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the present study is to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients diagnosed and treated for conjunctival melanoma in the Ocular Oncology Unit of the University Hospital Clinic of Valladolid.

METHODS

A retrospective observational case series study was conducted on patients diagnosed with conjunctival melanoma in the Ocular Oncology Unit of University Hospital Clinic of Valladolid, from January 1992 to December 2017. Demographic information and tumour features were recorded in a Microsoft Access database.

RESULTS

Among a total of 462 consecutive patients, the tumour was classified as melanocytic in 252 cases (54.5%), with 27 patients having the pathological diagnosis of conjunctival melanoma. The mean age at diagnosis was 59.2years (16-88), and there were 41% males and 59% females, with a mean follow-up of 6.1±6.8years. As regards the origin of conjunctival melanoma, 16 cases (59%) arose from primary acquired melanosis, 26% from nevus, and 15% developed de novo. The treatment performed was incisional or excisional biopsy in all patients, local adjuvant chemotherapy in 15 cases (56%) and brachytherapy in 5 patients (18%). The median survival was 18years and the probability of survival at 5 and 10years was 89% and 69%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Conjunctival melanoma is a rare disease, usually undervalued by the patient as well as being underdiagnosed, leading to insufficient and delayed treatment. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to prevent recurrences and systemic extension, as well as to preserve vision and life.

Resolution of conjunctival melanoma with topical interferon alpha 2b in a patient with mitomycin C intolerance

OBJECTIVE

To describe the clinical and histological resolution of a case of an inexcisable conjunctival melanoma using topical interferon alpha 2b (INFα2b) in a patient with mitomycin C (MMC) intolerance.

CASE REPORT

Conjunctival melanoma is a rare, but potentially sight- and life-threatening, tumour. In cases of multiple lesions, or when surgical excision is not possible, topical combination chemotherapy with MMC and INFα2b has been described as first line therapy. The case is presented of a 77 year-old woman with a multifocal conjunctival in situ melanoma, who was intolerant to initial treatment with MMC and was switched to long-term INFα2b therapy, with a good outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

When topical MMC is given as chemotherapy treatment for primary acquired melanosis with atypia or in situ melanoma is not well tolerated, switching to INFα2b seems to be a good option. This approach could replace surgical management of pigmented tumours, especially the larger ones, with potential benefits that include less dependence on surgical margins. This report prompts a need for prospective studies designed to examine the role of INFα2b as primary treatment for heavily pigmented conjunctival tumours avoiding the ocular surface toxicity caused by MMC.

[Focus on clinical and pathological management of conjunctival melanocytic tumors]

Conjunctival-pigmented tumors are rare, but they are one of the most commonly encountered by the pathologist working with the department of ophthalmology. Nevus and melanoma can be encountered and have some histological difference compared to their cutaneous counterpart. Primary acquired melanosis (PAM) is a conjunctival specific entity. This clinical term includes several histological lesions ranging from benignity to melanoma precursor lesion. Histologic examination determines the therapy and the risk of progression to melanoma. We present here a histopathological, clinical and therapeutic synthesis of conjunctival-pigmented lesions, emphasizing the importance of a good understanding between clinicians and pathologists.

Conjunctival Melanoma - Epidemiological Trends and Features

Conjunctival melanoma is a rare but sight and life threatening malignancy. It accounts for 2%-5% of all ocular tumours and 5%-7% of all ocular melanomas with an incidence of 0.2-0.8 per million in the Caucasian population with rare cases reported in the non-Caucasians. In recent decades the incidence of uveal melanoma has been relatively stable whilst conjunctival and cutaneous melanoma have shown increasing incidence which may be connected to the result of environmental exposure to ultraviolet light. The dissimilarity in incidence between light and dark pigmented individuals observed in conjunctival melanomas compared to uveal and cutaneous melanomas may be related to differences in their histological structures and genetic profile. Recent molecular biological studies support the fact that each type of melanoma undergoes its own molecular changes and has characteristic biological behaviour. Further studies are required for each type of melanoma in order to ascertain their individual etiology and pathogenesis and based on this knowledge develop relevant preventative and treatment procedures.

Kinome-wide transcriptional profiling of uveal melanoma reveals new vulnerabilities to targeted therapeutics

Metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) is invariably fatal, usually within a year of diagnosis. There are currently no effective therapies, and clinical studies employing kinase inhibitors have so far demonstrated limited success. This is despite common activating mutations in GNAQ/11 genes, which trigger signalling pathways that might predispose tumours to a variety of targeted drugs. In this study, we have profiled kinome expression network dynamics in various human ocular melanomas. We uncovered a shared transcriptional profile in human primary UM samples and across a variety of experimental cell-based models. The poor overall response of UM cells to FDA-approved kinase inhibitors contrasted with much higher sensitivity to the bromodomain inhibitor JQ1, a broad transcriptional repressor. Mechanistically, we identified a repressed FOXM1-dependent kinase subnetwork in JQ1-exposed cells that contained multiple cell cycle-regulated protein kinases. Consistently, we demonstrated vulnerability of UM cells to inhibitors of mitotic protein kinases within this network, including the investigational PLK1 inhibitor BI6727. We conclude that analysis of kinome-wide signalling network dynamics has the potential to reveal actionable drug targets and inhibitors of potential therapeutic benefit for UM patients.

Histopathological Parameters in Pterygia and Significant Clinical Correlations

Purpose:

To evaluate the clinical and histopathological parameters of pterygium to determine significant correlations between parameters that can affect management strategies.

Methods:

A total of 47 pterygia were clinically examined and excised for histopathological evaluation of epithelial and stromal changes. Some samples were immunostained with P53 (a protein of 53 kilodalton used as dysplastic epithelial marker), CD20 (CD/cluster of differentiation, are group of surface receptors providing targets for cellular immunophenotyping, CD20 as a B lymphocyte marker), CD 3 (as T lymphocyte marker) or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF/as vascular marker).

Results:

Most patients were male (59.6%). Cosmetic complaints (83%), grade II redness (61.7%), grade 2 extension (63.8), and associated astigmatism of <2.5 D (83%) were observed. Histopathological features included solar elastosis (100%), squamous hyperplasia (83%), increased stromal vascularity with hemorrhage (76.6%), and lymphocytic stromal infiltration, perivascular distribution, and mild epithelial lymphocytic exocytosis in 72.3%, 74.5%, and 70.2% of cases, respectively. Other changes included goblet cell hyperplasia (31.9%), prominent epithelial pigmentation (48.9%), and, most importantly, epithelial atypia (53.2%). Clinical redness was significantly correlated with vascularity, epithelial hyperplasia, and lymphocytic stromal infiltration; lymphocytic stromal infiltration was also significantly correlated with pterygium extension and with low astigmatism.

Conclusion:

The inflammatory response was mild in most cases and the density was not significantly correlated with any clinical parameter. Vascularity was related to clinical redness. Treatment with anti-VEGF may be beneficial, even for grade 1 pterygia that are not dominantly fibrotic.

Updates in ophthalmic pathology

Ophthalmic pathology has a long history and rich heritage in the field of ophthalmology. This review article highlights updates in ophthalmic pathology that have developed significantly through the years because of the efforts of committed individuals and the confluence of technology such as molecular biology and digital pathology. This is an exciting period in the history of ocular pathology, with cutting-edge techniques paving the way for new developments in diagnostics, therapeutics, and research. Collaborations between ocular oncologists and pathologists allow for improved and comprehensive patient care. Ophthalmic pathology continues to be a relevant specialty that is important in the understanding and clinical management of ocular disease, education of eye care providers, and overall advancement of the field.