A Prospective Natural History Study in Uveal Melanoma

Description

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults, accounting for 85% to 95% of ocular melanoma cases. However, UM represents only about 3% to 5% of all melanomas in the United States (US). UM most commonly arises from choroidal melanocytes (85-90%), but can also arise from the iris (3-5%) and ciliary body (5-8%). The median age of diagnosis is approximately 62; however, the peak range for diagnosis is between 70 and 79. Males have a 30% greater incidence than females. A variety of putative risk factors have been identified, including the presence of light eyes, fair skin, an inability to tan, ocular melanocytosis, dysplastic nevus syndrome, and germline BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) mutations.

Importantly, there are no recent or on-going multi-center natural history studies being conducted in this disease, and this effort is the only one to be launched with the goal of capturing the complete course of this disease, from diagnosis, initial management, surveillance, and treatment of recurrent disease in a national and international setting. This registry is especially important in providing such needed data.