Disparities in Uveal Melanoma: Patient Characteristics

Uveal melanoma incidence and survival analysis in Portugal between 2013 and 2022

PURPOSE

This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the clinical characteristics and epidemiology of uveal melanoma (UM) in the Portuguese population, evaluated at the National Reference Centre (NRC).

METHODS

A prospective observational study was conducted, involving patients consecutively diagnosed with UM at the Portuguese NRC between July 2013 and December 2022. The study collected data on demographic and tumour characteristics, clinical staging according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), treatment approaches, local disease control, patient survival, and the occurrence of distant metastases.

RESULTS

The study included a total of 316 patients, 53.8% female. The mean age at diagnosis was 61.8±14.2 years, and 75.0% of patients presented with symptoms. The mean annual age-adjusted incidence of uveal melanoma in Portugal between 2014 and 2022 was 2.4 cases per million (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.1-2.8). For choroidal/ciliary body tumours, the overall cumulative survival and distant metastases-free survival (DMFS) rates at 5 years were 84.9% (95% CI: 78.7-91.1) and 79.4% (95%CI: 72.8-86.0), respectively. Notably, higher AJCC stages at presentation, the need for enucleation, and increased tumour thickness were associated with lower DSS and DMFS rates.

CONCLUSION

This study represents the most extensive analysis of UM epidemiology within the Portuguese population. The findings underscore the importance of early diagnosis and treatment in UM, as lower AJCC stages and smaller tumour thickness at diagnosis correlate with improved DSS and DMFS.

Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Pandemic on Characteristics and Management of Uveal Melanoma in the National Referral Center in Poland

(1) Background: to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the characteristics and management of uveal melanoma (UM) in the National Referral Center in Poland. (2) Materials and Methods: the retrospective analysis of 1336 patients who were newly diagnosed with UM at the Department of Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Oncology, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum Krakow, Poland between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2021. The demographic and clinical data were compiled, including localization, size, and treatment methods of tumors. (3) Results: In total, 728 patients with UM were included before the COVID-19 pandemic, in the years 2018-2019, and 608 were included during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the years 2020-2021. Fixed-base dynamics indicators for the incidence of uveal melanoma (base year 2018) in the National Referral Center in Poland were 80.22% and 86.81% in the years 2020 and 2021, respectively. UMs were statistically significantly larger and more frequently localized anterior to the equator of the eye globe in the year 2021 than in the year 2018 (Chi-square Pearson test p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0077, respectively). The rate of patients treated with enucleation increased from 15.94% in the year 2018 to 26.90% in the year 2021 (Chi-square Pearson test p = 0.0005). (4) Conclusions: Statistically significant differences were found in the management of uveal melanoma in the National Referral Center in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic with tumors being larger, more frequently localized anterior to the equator of the eye globe, and more often enucleated.

Assessment of Social Vulnerabilities of Care and Prognosis in Adult Ocular Melanomas in the US

BACKGROUND

Prior works have studied the impact of social determinants on various cancers but there is limited analysis on eye-orbit cancers. Current literature tends to focus on socioeconomic status and race, with sparse analysis of interdisciplinary contributions. We examined social determinants as measured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), quantifying eye and orbit melanoma disparities across the United States.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 15,157 patients diagnosed with eye-orbit cancers in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 1975 to 2017 was performed, extracting 6139 ocular melanomas. SVI scores were abstracted and matched to SEER patient data, with scores generated by weighted averages per population density of county's census tracts. Primary outcome was months survived, while secondary outcomes were advanced staging, high grading, and primary surgery receipt.

RESULTS

With increased total SVI score, indicating more vulnerability, we observed significant decreases of 23.1% in months survival for melanoma histology (p < 0.001) and 19.6-39.7% by primary site. Increasing total SVI showed increased odds of higher grading (odds ratio [OR] 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.43) and decreased odds of surgical intervention (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.92-0.96). Of the four themes, higher magnitude contributions were observed with socioeconomic status (26.0%) and housing transportation (14.4%), while lesser magnitude contributions were observed with minority language status (13.5%) and household composition (9.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing social vulnerability, as measured by the CDC SVI and its subscores, displayed significant detrimental trends in prognostic and treatment factors for adult eye-orbit melanoma. Subscores quantified which social determinants contributed most to disparities. This lays groundwork for providers to target the highest-impact social determinant for non-clinical factors in patient care.

Socket outcomes following enucleation for uveal melanoma: post enucleation socket syndrome can be challenging

PURPOSE

To evaluate socket outcomes of enucleation for uveal melanoma.

METHODS

This study was a retrospective chart review conducted in December 2022 of all patients who underwent enucleation surgery for uveal melanoma between 2010 and 2015 in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, to evaluate socket outcomes including completion of revision surgery, type of surgery, and completion of multiple revision surgeries, and potential associations.

RESULTS

Between June 2010 and December 2015, 72 patients underwent enucleation for uveal melanoma in the ocular oncology service, including 25 females and 47 males, mean age 65, range 11-91 years old. There were 68 primary enucleations and 4 secondary enucleations. Complete follow-up data was available for mean 4 years, range 1-11 years. Fourteen patients underwent further surgery, including one exenteration for local recurrence. Oculoplastic surgery (n = 6, 8%), implant exposure repair (n = 3, 6%), and orbit volume expanding surgery (n = 4, 6%) were also performed. Eight patients (11%) underwent one further surgery and five patients (7%) underwent a series of procedures. There was a significant association with younger age at enucleation (age <65) with undergoing further surgery (p = 0.03, Fisher's Exact Test (FET)), and also an association of younger age with undergoing multiple further surgeries (p = 0.02, FET). There was no association found with other predictor variables, including primary versus secondary enucleation status. Most patients (75%) with PESS underwent more than one surgery.

CONCLUSION

Post enucleation surgery 82% of patients did not undergo further surgery, but younger patients were more likely to undergo anophthalmic socket revision or oculoplastic surgery. Management of post enucleation socket syndrome was challenging and usually involved a series of procedures.

Comprehensive causes of death in uveal melanoma: mortality in 1530 consecutively diagnosed patients followed until death

BACKGROUND

Uveal melanoma has a high propensity for metastatic spread. Yet, the comprehensive causes of death in a large consecutive cohort followed from diagnosis to death remain unknown.

METHODS

All Swedish patients diagnosed with melanoma involving the iris, choroid, and/or ciliary body after January 1, 1960, were assessed for this study. Sequential inclusion was halted upon encountering the first surviving patient during data collection. Causes of death were collected from the National Cause of Death Registry and audited by analysis of up to 15 causative diagnoses.

RESULTS

A total of 1530 patients were included, each histopathologically verified with primary uveal melanoma. Mortality from metastatic uveal melanoma was 31% at 5 years, 40% at 10 years, 45% at 20 years, 47% at 30 years, and 48% between 40 and 60 years post-diagnosis. Notably, the longest period between diagnosis and metastatic fatality was 49.6 years. Additionally, 186 other causes of death were recorded, with cardiovascular diseases constituting 26%, other cancers 10%, stroke 6%, dementias 2%, and lower respiratory infections 2% of total mortalities. Mortality from colorectal, lung, prostate, and stomach carcinomas over 60 years were 1.4%, 1.4%, 1.2%, and 0.9%, with metastatic uveal melanoma being the leading cumulative and annual cause of death for the initial 41 and 5 years post-diagnosis, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

In this large consecutive cohort, half of the included patients ultimately succumbed to metastatic uveal melanoma, with deaths occurring up to 50 years after diagnosis. One-quarter and one-tenth of patients died from cardiovascular diseases and other cancers, respectively.

Sex Differences in the Treatment of Uveal Melanoma in a Group of 1336 Patients

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the sex differences in the treatment of uveal melanoma (UM) in a group of 1336 patients from a national referral center during the period 2018-2021. (2) Materials and Methods: The study was designed in a retrospective manner. A total of 1336 patients who were newly diagnosed with UM at the Department of Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Oncology, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, Krakow, Poland, between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2021, were included in the study. The demographic and clinical data were compiled, including the sex of patients and the treatment methods. (3) Results: In total, 1336 patients with ocular melanoma were identified, including 726 women (54.34%) and 610 men (45.66%). A total of 49.70% of tumors were localized in the right eye and 50.30% in the left eye. UMs were localized statistically significantly more frequently posterior to the equator of the eye globe in men than in women (79.67% vs. 74.10%, Chi^2 Pearson test p = 0.035). Tumors tended to be larger in men, but this difference was not clinically significant. Men were enucleated more often than women (23.44% vs. 18.04%, Chi^2 Pearson test p = 0.015). (4) Conclusions: Statistically significant sex differences were found in the treatment of uveal melanoma in a national referral center in Poland, with men being enucleated more often than women.

PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway-derived risk score exhibits correlation with immune infiltration in uveal melanoma patients

Uveal melanoma (UVM) is a rare but highly aggressive intraocular tumor with a poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Recent studies have implicated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in the pathogenesis and progression of UVM. Here, we aimed to explore the potential mechanism of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway-related genes (PRGs) in UVM and develop a novel prognostic-related risk model. Using unsupervised clustering on 14 PRGs profiles, we identified three distinct subtypes with varying immune characteristics. Subtype A demonstrated the worst overall survival and showed higher expression of human leukocyte antigen, immune checkpoints, and immune cell infiltration. Further enrichment analysis revealed that subtype A mainly functioned in inflammatory response, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Differential analysis between different subtypes identified 56 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with the major enrichment pathway of these DEGs associated with PI3K/AKT/mTOR. Based on these DEGs, we developed a consensus machine learning-derived signature (RSF model) that exhibited the best power for predicting prognosis among 76 algorithm combinations. The novel signature demonstrated excellent robustness and predictive ability for the overall survival of patients. Moreover, we observed that patients classified by risk scores had distinguishable immune status and mutation. In conclusion, our study identified a consensus machine learning-derived signature as a potential biomarker for prognostic prediction in UVM patients. Our findings suggest that this signature is correlated with tumor immune infiltration and may serve as a valuable tool for personalized therapy in the clinical setting.

Long-term relative survival in uveal melanoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

A large proportion of patients with uveal melanoma develop metastases and succumb to their disease. Reports on the size of this proportion vary considerably.

Methods

PubMed, Web of Science and Embase were searched for articles published after 1980. Studies with ≥100 patients reporting ≥five-year relative survival rates were included. Studies solely reporting Kaplan-Meier estimates and cumulative incidences were not considered, due to risk for competing risk bias and classification errors. A meta-analysis was performed using random-effects and weighted averages models, as well as a combined estimate based on curve fitting.

Results

Nine studies and a total of 18 495 patients are included. Overall, the risk of selective reporting bias is low. Relative survival rates vary across the population of studies (I2 48 to 97% and Qp < 0.00001 to 0.15), likely due to differences in baseline characteristics and the large number of patients included (τ2 < 0.02). The 30-year relative survival rates follow a cubic curve that is well fitted to data from the random-effects inverse-variance and weighted average models (R2 = 0.95, p = 7.19E−7). The estimated five, ten, 15, 20, 25 and 30-year relative survival rates are 79, 66, 60, 60, 62 and 67%, respectively.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that about two in five of all patients with uveal melanoma ultimately succumb to their disease. This indicates a slightly better prognosis than what is often assumed, and that patients surviving 20 years or longer may have a survival advantage to individuals of the same sex and age from the general population.

Evaluation of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Associations With Treatment and Survival in Uveal Melanoma, 2004-2014

Importance

Identifying disparities in uveal melanoma (UM) treatment patterns and survival across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic (SES) groups reveals possible inequities in ophthalmologic health care.

Objective

To examine the association of race, ethnicity, and SES with UM treatment and survival.

Design, Setting, and Participants

A retrospective cohort analysis of 28% of the US population using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 18 registries from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2014, was conducted. Data analysis was performed from April to July 2018. SEER identified 4475 individuals using International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition site and morphology codes.

Exposures

Race, ethnicity, and SES estimated by tertile using Yost Index composite scores.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Treatment odds ratios (ORs), 1-year and 5-year survival estimates, mortality hazard ratios (HRs), and Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Hypothesis was formulated before data collection.

Results

Multivariate analyses of 4475 individuals (2315 [51.7%] men; non-Hispanic white, 4130 [92.3%]; nonwhite, 345 [7.7%]) showed that patients who were nonwhite (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.12-1.88) and socioeconomically disadvantaged (lower SES: OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.82-2.68; middle SES: OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.56-2.21) were more likely to receive primary enucleation. No interactions were observed between race/ethnicity, SES, and stage at diagnosis. From 2004 to 2014, rates of primary enucleation decreased across all racial/ethnic and SES groups, but disparities persisted. Socioeconomically disadvantaged patients had lower 5-year all-cause survival rates (lower SES: 69.2%; middle SES: 68.1%; and upper SES: 73.8%), although disease-specific survival did not vary significantly by racial/ethnic or SES strata. Mortality risk was associated with older age at diagnosis (56-68 years: HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.44-2.01; ≥69 years: HR, 3.32; 95% CI, 2.85-3.86), advanced stage of UM (stage 2: HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.19-1.65; stage 3: HR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.87-2.73; and stage 4: HR, 10.09; 95% CI, 7.39-13.77), and treatment with primary enucleation (HR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.88-2.44) with no racial/ethnic or SES variation.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this study, SEER data from 2004 to 2014 suggest that nonwhite and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients with UM are more likely to be treated with primary enucleation, although no such variation appears to exist in disease-specific survival. These differences reveal opportunities to address issues regarding treatment choice in UM.

Update on uveal melanoma: Translational research from biology to clinical practice (Review)

Uveal melanoma is the most common type of intraocular cancer with a low mean annual incidence of 5‑10 cases per million. Tumours are located in the choroid (90%), ciliary body (6%) or iris (4%) and of 85% are primary tumours. As in cutaneous melanoma, tumours arise in melanocytes; however, the characteristics of uveal melanoma differ, accounting for 3‑5% of melanocytic cancers. Among the numerous risk factors are age, sex, genetic and phenotypic predisposition, the work environment and dermatological conditions. Management is usually multidisciplinary, including several specialists such as ophthalmologists, oncologists and maxillofacial surgeons, who participate in the diagnosis, treatment and complex follow‑up of these patients, without excluding the management of the immense emotional burden. Clinically, uveal melanoma generates symptoms that depend as much on the affected ocular globe site as on the tumour size. The anatomopathological study of uveal melanoma has recently benefited from developments in molecular biology. In effect, disease classification or staging according to molecular profile is proving useful for the assessment of this type of tumour. Further, the improved knowledge of tumour biology is giving rise to a more targeted approach to diagnosis, prognosis and treatment development; for example, epigenetics driven by microRNAs as a target for disease control. In the present study, the main epidemiological, clinical, physiopathological and molecular features of this disease are reviewed, and the associations among all these factors are discussed.

An amelanotic choroidal melanoma arising in a young man with tattoo-associated sarcoidosis

Purpose

To describe a patient with an amelanotic choroidal melanoma, originally misdiagnosed as a choroidal granuloma, following his systemic diagnosis of tattoo-associated sarcoidosis.

Observations

The amelanotic choroidal tumor, suspected to be a granuloma, failed initial steroid treatment. Full-thickness chorioretinal biopsy demonstrated histologic presence of uveal melanoma and tumor genetics via GEP analysis demonstrated a PRAME negative, Class 1A lesion. The amelanotic choroidal melanoma was treated successfully with I-125 plaque brachytherapy.

Conclusion and importance

Despite a systemic diagnosis which predisposes a patient to uveal granuloma, amelanotic choroidal melanomas can still occur and should be considered. The association of uveal melanoma and sarcoidosis remains rare and of unclear significance.

Uveal Melanoma in Ireland

Purpose

To report the clinical features and epidemiology of uveal melanoma in Ireland.

Methods

This was an observational study of 253 patients with a new diagnosis of uveal melanoma between June 2010 and December 2015. Main outcome measures included demographics, clinical features, age-adjusted incidence, relative survival, overall survival, and distant metastases-free survival.

Results

The mean patient age was 61.7 years. Tumour location was choroidal in 82%, ciliochoroidal in 9%, iridociliary in 2%, and iris in 7%. Treatment modalities included brachytherapy (ruthenium-106 and iodine-125 [64%]), enucleation (27%), and proton beam radiation (8%). The mean age-adjusted incidence of uveal melanoma in Ireland from 2010 to 2015 was 9.5 per million of the population (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.4-10.7). Four-year relative survival was 81.3% (95% CI: 72.8-87.3). Four-year overall survival was 84% (95% CI: 78-90) and 4-year distant metastases-free survival was 79% (95% CI: 73-86).

Conclusion

Based on this data, the incidence of uveal melanoma in Ireland is high when compared with other reported incidence rates in Europe and worldwide. Relative and observed survival were in keeping with other reported European survival rates.

Ocular melanoma-when you have seen one, you have not seen them all: a clinical outcome study from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (1973-2012)

BACKGROUND

Ocular melanoma (OM) comprises <5% of all melanomas. Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common subtype of OM, while conjunctival melanoma (CM) is rare and differs significantly from UM. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a large cohort of OM patients to differentiate demographic, pathologic, and clinical factors between these two neoplasms, which may affect treatment and outcomes.

METHODS

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (1973-2012) was used to extract demographic and clinical data on 8,165 OM patients (92.1% UM and 7.9% CM).

RESULTS

Both CM and UM were most prevalent among Caucasian males in the seventh decade of life. UM patients presented more often with localized disease (90.9% vs 81.2, P<0.01). Surgery (42.8%), radiation (43.0%), or combined surgery and radiation (7.0%) were used in the treatment of UM, while CM was treated almost exclusively with surgery (88.7%). Mean overall survival was longer (15.4 vs 14.6 years; P<0.01) and mortality rates were lower in patients (38.8% vs 46.1%; P<0.01) with CM.

CONCLUSION

Despite presenting with more advanced disease than UM, CM is associated with an increased overall survival. Surgery is the primary therapy for CM, whereas radiotherapy is the primary therapy for UM and is associated with prolonged survival.