Study Takes a Closer Look at Eye Cancer’s High Rate of Metastasis
Source: Technology Networks Cancer Research, July 2024
Uveal melanoma is a rare cancer type with an incidence of 7.6 per million adults in Australia and represents around 5% of all melanomas. Patients presenting with uveal melanoma have a 50% chance of the disease metastasising or spreading from the eye, commonly to the liver, even after successful treatment of the tumours within the eye.
Metastases of uveal melanoma could develop up to 20 years after the primary tumour treatment, and the median survival in patients that after a diagnosis of metastases, is between 5 to 18 months.
ECU Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow, Dr Vivian Chua noted that after diagnosis of the disease in the liver, patient survival is often short due to the lack of effective treatment options.