title: Relative survival of patients with uveal melanoma managed in a single center.
abstract: To assess the 5-year relative survival of patients diagnosed with uveal melanoma (UM) in a single center. UM patients were recruited from 1995 to 2004 (N = 155) and were followed until December 2008. Relative survival (RS) methods were used to assess excess mortality. An RS regression model was fitted by sex, age, tumor origin, treatment, and tumor size to estimate the excess hazard rate (EHR) of death from UM. The overall 5-year RS was 90%, lower in women (84.6%) than in men (100%), lower in patients older than 60 years (88.8%) compared with those younger than or of 60 years of age (94.8%). Large tumors (80.8%) showed lower RS than medium (95.1%) and small ones (98.3%). Enucleated patients (80.5%) had lower RS compared with those who received brachytherapy (93.6%) and other treatments (94.7%). A significant EHR was found for women (EHR: 3.65), patients older than 60 years (EHR: 2.25), large-sized melanoma (EHR: 2.45), and during the third (EHR: 5.37) and fourth year (EHR: 3.01) of follow-up. This is the first Spanish study in a single center reporting RS among UM patients, taking into account clinical characteristics. Prognostic factors that explained RS among UM patients were sex, age, tumor size, and the year of follow-up. We also found a peak of excess mortality from the third until the fourth year after diagnosis, which warrants strict follow-up of these patients during this time interval.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Caminal
authors.forename: Josepa
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribes
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Clèries
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ibáñez
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Piulats
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pera
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arruga
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D047368:Tumor Burden; D014604:Uveal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*