Clinical Spectrum of Uveal Metastasis in Korean Patients Based on Primary Tumor Origin

Abstract

To describe the clinical features and prognosis of patients with uveal metastasis in Korea. Retrospective, observational case series. Patients diagnosed at 2 tertiary high-volume centers between November 2005 and November2019. Evaluation of multimodal imaging and electronic medical records. The clinical features and outcomes were assessed based on the primary cancer site. A total of 134 uveal metastases (128 choroidal, 3 iris, and 3 ciliary body tumors) were diagnosed in 95 eyes of 80 patients. Mean age at diagnosis was 56 years (median, 55 years; range, 24-86 years), with a minor preponderance of women (61%). Tumors were bilateral in 15 patients (19%) and the primary origin was established in 49 patients (61%) before ocular detection. The primary tumor originated in the lung (48%), breast (24%), gastrointestinal tract (10%), liver (3%), pancreas (3%), kidney (1%), cervix (1%), and nasopharynx (1%), with some remaining unknown (10%). The overall 5-year survival rate was 21%. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the worst survival was found in pancreatic cancers (mean survival, 5.9 months; P= 0.045), and the best survival was found in gastrointestinal tract cancers (mean survival, 44.5 months). The primary tumor origins in Korean patients with uveal metastases differed from those reported in primarily population-based studies of White patients, with a higher prevalence of lung and gastrointestinal tract cancers.