title: Comparison of clinical outcomes for patients with large choroidal melanoma after primary treatment with enucleation or proton beam radiotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate survival and clinical outcome for patients with a large uveal melanoma treated by either enucleation or proton beam radiotherapy (PBRT).
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective non-randomized study evaluated 132 consecutive patients with T3 and T4 choroidal melanoma classified according to TNM stage grouping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cumulative all-cause mortality, melanoma-related mortality and metastasis-free survival were not statistically different between the two groups (log-rank test, p = 0.56, p = 0.99 and p = 0.25, respectively). Eye retention of the tumours treated with PBRT at 5 years was 74% (SD 6.2%). In these patients at diagnosis, 73% of eyes had a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 0.1 or better. After 12 and 60 months, BCVA of 0.1 or better was observed in 47.5 and 32%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although enucleation is the most common primary treatment for large uveal melanomas, PBRT is an eye-preserving option that may be considered for some patients.
authors.affiliation: Ocular Oncology Center, Galliera Hospital, Genoa, Italy. carlo.mosci@galliera.it
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mosci
authors.forename: Francesco Baldo
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barla
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mosci
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hérault
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Anselmi
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Truini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D002830:Choroid Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D015353:Eye Enucleation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011522:Protons; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011522:Protons