Transpupillary thermotherapy in choroidal melanomas.

Objective: To determine safety and efficacy of transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) as a new treatment for choroidal melanoma.

Methods And Patients: To perform TTT, diode laser energy at 810 nm was used with a beam diameter of 1.5 to 4.

Possibilities and limitations of radioimmunoscintigraphy and conventional diagnostic modalities in choroidal melanoma.

A prospective clinical study to assess the value of immunoscintigraphy with a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) against high molecular weight melanoma associated antigen (225.28S) was performed in 43 patients with choroidal melanoma; in six patients with a lesion suspected of being choroidal melanoma, and in seven patients with a benign lesion simulating a choroidal melanoma. The results of immunoscintigraphy in choroidal melanoma were compared with results of conventional diagnostic modalities like ultrasonography and fluorescein angiography.

Results of ruthenium irradiation of uveal melanoma.

The follow-up results are presented for the radiotherapeutic treatment of 49 patients with uveal eye melanoma using ruthenium-106 (106Ru/106Rh) applicators. Graded doses were applied and the degree of regression was found to be correlated with the dose at the top of the tumour. Complete regression is found in 66% of the patients treated with a top dose above 150 Gy, in which case the initial tumour prominence diminishes in about three years to a stable disease or to a flat scar.

Iris nevi and melanomas: a clinical follow-up study.

A follow-up study of 113 patients with suspicious iris nevi who were referred to our clinic between 1973 and 1991 was carried out by: reviewing their clinical records, fluorescein angiography, obtaining recent data with cooperation of their own or the referring ophthalmologist and contacting patients for reexamination. After examination the diagnoses were: 64 suspicious nevi, 23 melanomas, 15 ciliary body tumors with iris involvement and 11 other pseudomelanomas. In the group of suspicious nevi 86% was localized in the inferior part and 66% in the temporal part of the iris; for the melanoma group these figures were 78% and 75% respectively.

Possible relation between HLA and ABO type and prognosis of uveal melanoma.

Not only local parameters but also genetic determinants like the HLA genes may play a role in the development and clinical behavior of malignant tumors. In skin melanoma the presence of HLA-B40 is associated with a poor prognosis. We tested the hypothesis that the clinical behavior of uveal melanoma is influenced by the HLA type of the patient.