Evidence of Circulating Tumour Cells in Patients with Melanoma of the Eye

Overview

The authors investigated a group of 51 patients (29 men and 22 women) withintraocularmelanoma:
41 patients with melanoma of the chorioid,10 patients withmelanoma of the ciliary body. They evaluated the clinical and pathological findingaccording to the TNM classification recommended by UICC (International UnionAgainstCancer).In all investigated patients they assessed circulatingtumour cells(melanocytes) in the peripheral blood stream based on the detection of mRNAtyrosinase and marker MART 1.When evaluating the presence of markers according to the diagnosis irrespectiveof time, they found in patients in the clinical stage of T2 chorioidal melanomaa 19% positivity of differentmarkers and very rare a concurrent positivity of bothmarkers. Patients in the clinical stage T3 had a 51% positivity of one marker and34% concurrent positivity of both markers. In melanoma of the ciliary bodyevidence of individual markers was positive in 17% and only in 11% both markerswere positive concurrently.On comparison of therapeutic procedures fromthe aspect of development in timein patients treated by brachytherapy only rare positivity was found at the time of administration the radioactive plaque, following an eight-month interval afterbrachytherapy the positivity of markers increased to 28 %. On evaluation ofmarkers of choroidal melanoma and ciliary body melanoma resolved by enucleationhad their positivity at the time of operation was 36 %, and during check-upsup to one year or longer it persisted at similar levels. Concurrent presence of bothmarkers before this operation was rare, during postoperative check-up examinationsit was within a range of 23 and 33 %. The presence of both markers wasrepeatedly proved in five patients with choioidal melanoma after enucleation ofthe eye, in four of them in direct correlation with a metastatic process.

Key words:
melanoma of the uvea, melanoma markers, tyrosinase, MART I