Study Reports Survival Rates of Uveal Melanoma Cases

Cases of isolated iris melanomas and iris and ciliary body tumors have low mortality rates, while cases of ring melanomas and tumors involving the iris, ciliary body and choroid have high mortality rates. Photo: Jerome Sherman, OD, and Sherry Bass, OD. Click image to enlarge.  Metastatic tumors are important to catch early on to ensure proper treatment and better prognosis; however, classifying unique types of cancer during a patient’s screening process can be difficult. For instance, ring melanomas are tumors that cover different regions of the eye. It may be challenging to determine the severity of these cases due to their shape. A recent study published in Ophthalmology showcased how uveal melanomas can be classified and the survival patterns of different cases.For this study, researchers examined data from 3,859 patients with uveal melanomas. They then extracted 789 (20%) cases of melanoma where the anterior chamber was involved. These cases were categorized into four groups: isolated iris melanomas (n=273; 35%), iris and ciliary body tumors (n=150; 19%), ring melanomas (n=76; 9.5%) and tumors involving the iris, ciliary body and choroid (n=287; 37%). Survival rates were reported for five, 10 and 20 years, and hazard ratios (HRs) were recorded.Survival rates for five, 10 and 20 years all shared a similar pattern. At five years, the survival rate was 0% for isolated iris melanomas, 4.8% for iris and ciliary body tumors, 24% for ring melanomas and 48% for tumors involving the iris, ciliary body and choroid. At 10 years, 0% for isolated iris melanomas, 7.7% for iris and ciliary body tumors, 28% for ring melanomas and 62% for tumors involving the iris, ciliary body and choroid. At 20 years, 0.7% for isolated iris melanomas, 10% for iris and ciliary body tumors, 32% for ring melanomas and 68% for tumors involving the iris, ciliary body and choroid.Using cases of iris and ciliary body tumors as a reference, researchers calculated the hazard ratios for each melanoma classification. Isolated iris melanoma’s hazard ratio was significantly lower at 0.05. However, ring melanomas (HR=5) and tumors involving the iris, ciliary body and choroid (HR=15.3) reported significantly higher hazard ratios.“We found that when classified as iris melanoma, ring melanoma was almost the sole driver of poor prognosis,” shared the authors in their study’s paper. “In contrast, when classified as ciliary body melanoma, ring melanoma showed no significant difference in survival compared to regular ciliary body melanomas, suggesting ring melanomas behave more like ciliary body than iris melanomas in terms of survival.”The researchers concluded that iris melanomas with a ring configuration carry a significant metastatic risk, while other tumors appear to have a lower risk of spreading and doing harm. Despite this, the researchers noted that “this study cannot support non-treatment, as nearly all included patients underwent intervention, preventing conclusions about the natural history of untreated tumors.”Click here for the journal source. Nissen K, Jørgensen AHR, Rosthøj S, et al. Survival outcomes of uveal melanoma involving the anterior chamber of the eye. A retrospective cohort study: Denmark, 1943-2022. Ophthalmology. July 30, 2025. [Epub ahead of print].  This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.