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Tumor volume good prognostic indicator of survival
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The calculated volume of a tumor is a better indicator of the prognosis for survival in patients with choroidal melanomas than other measures commonly used, according to a study. The study authors suggest that estimated volume may be more reliable than tumor diameter or tumor height to assess patients’ prognosis.
E. Richtig and colleagues at the University Hospital of Graz in Austria measured largest tumor diameter and height via ultrasound in 93 patients with choroidal melanoma, and they calculated estimated tumor volumes using these measurements.
Mean tumor diameter was 10.4 mm and mean tumor height was 5.7 mm at the time of initial diagnosis. The range of the calculated tumor volume was between 11 mm³ and 628 mm³. Distant metastases occurred in 10 patients. When numerous factors were considered, only tumor volume turned out as a significant prognostic parameter for survival time (P = .001).
The study is published in the June issue of Eye.