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Study shows associations between uveal melanoma and iris nevi, cutaneous nevi and freckles
Ophthalmology. 2009;116(3):536-543.
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Uveal melanoma was linked in a meta-analysis to cutaneous nevi, iris nevi and cutaneous freckles.
Cutaneous freckles, cutaneous nevi and iris nevi are believed to represent a lightly pigmented phenotype combined with environmental ultraviolet light exposure, the study authors said.
"Our series of meta-analyses have found that patients with certain host factors (light-colored eyes, light skin, self-reported susceptibility to sunburn), environmental factors (arc welding exposure), and combined host and environmental factors ... are at higher risk for uveal melanoma," they said.
Investigators conducted a meta-analysis of four studies (850 cases) on atypical cutaneous nevi, four studies (805 cases) on common cutaneous nevi, seven studies (2,122 cases) on cutaneous freckles and four studies (825 cases) on iris nevi.
The atypical cutaneous nevi cases showed a summary odds ratio of 2.82 (P = .032). The common cutaneous nevi analysis yielded a summary odds ratio of 1.74 (P = .001). The cutaneous freckle analysis resulted in a summary odds ratio of 1.22 (P = .022). The iris nevi studies showed a summary odds ratio of 1.53 (P = .036).
Study limitations included a small number of studies in some meta-analyses and possible observational biases. Advantages included heterogeneity of study populations and statistical power, the authors said.