Abstract
Uveal melanoma represents the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults; it may arise in any part of the uveal tract, with choroid and ciliary bodies being the most frequent sites of disease. In the present paper we studied ABCB5 expression levels in patients affected by uveal melanoma, both with and without metastasis, in order to evaluate if ABCB5 is associated with a higher risk of metastatic disease and can be used as a poor prognostic factor in uveal melanoma. The target population consisted of 23 patients affected by uveal melanoma with metastasis and 32 without metastatic disease. A high expression of ABCB5 was seen in patients with metastasis (14/23, 60.9%), compared to that observed in patients without metastasis (13/32, 40.6%). In conclusion, we found that ABCB5 expression levels were correlated with faster metastatic progression and poorer prognosis, indicating their role as a prognostic factor in uveal melanoma.
Highlights
Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare neoplasm which, despite its rarity, represents the most common primary ocular malignancy in adults; it develops more frequently from melanocytes of the choroid but can arise in other sites, such as ciliary bodies and iris [1]
We retrospectively investigated ATP-binding cassette sub-family B member 5 (ABCB5) expression in primary uveal melanoma in patients both with non-metastatic and metastatic disease and we evaluated its potential role as a prognostic marker and predictive factor of metastatic potential of the neoplastic cells
15 cases were classified as epithelioid cells, 12 as spindle cells, while 28 cases were diagnosed as mixed type UM with both epithelioid and spindle cells
Summary
Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare neoplasm which, despite its rarity, represents the most common primary ocular malignancy in adults; it develops more frequently from melanocytes of the choroid but can arise in other sites, such as ciliary bodies and iris [1]. Several risk factors have been proposed in the pathogenesis of UM, including the presence of choroidal nevus, exposure to ultraviolet radiation, clear phototypes, ocular melanocytosis and extraocular conditions such as cutaneous dysplastic nevus syndrome, nevus of Ota and type 1 neurofibromatosis [4]. UM may remain silent and be accidentally detected by routine ophthalmic screening, a retinal detachment, causing visual disturbances like photopsia, is the most common presenting symptom of the disease; intraocular infections, vitreous bleeding and secondary glaucoma are frequent complications characterizing the natural history of the neoplasm [5].
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