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Choroidal melanoma increasingly treated with radiotherapy

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The size of choroidal melanoma tumors at first diagnosis has been decreasing over time, a large scale study shows. Additionally, enucleation is being used less for eliminating smaller tumors.

In its 20th report, the Collaborative Ocular Melonoma Study Group evaluated trends in size of choroidal melanoma and choice of treatment among patients who did and did not participate in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS). The data was gathered from 1987 to 1997, and included 4,077 patients.

According to the study, the number of tumors with longest basal diameter greater than 15 mm declined throughout the study period. From 1987 to 1989, 393 (30%) of 1,330 cases were greater than 15 mm, which declined to 345 (25%) of 1,397 cases from 1996 to 1997.

For all tumor sizes, the authors note that the proportion of COMS-eligible patients who did not enroll and chose enucleation remained stable over time, while the proportion of the same patients who elected for treatment with radiotherapy increased.

The study was published in Archives of Ophthalmology.