Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare histopathology and chromosome 3 mutations of choroidal melanomas in patients undergoing enucleation.
Methods: :
40 choroidal melanomas of 40 consecutive patients undergoing enucleation were evaluated for chromosome 3 monosomy by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Histopathology studies were performed grading the specimens in regards to basal diameter, mitotic activity, presence of lymphocytes and melanoma cytology. A total score was calculated and chromosome 3 monosomy patients were compared to chromosome 3 disomy patients.
Results: :
FISH revealed chromosome 3 monosomy in 25 patients and disomy in 15 patients. Patients with monosomy 3 had a statistically significant higher lymphocyte score (1.32 vs. 1.0; p = 0.0151) and total histopathology score (11.1 vs. 9.3; p = 0.0085) than disomy 3 patients. The remaining individual criteria showed a similar trend but were not statistically significant.
Conclusions: :
In patients with choroidal melanoma requiring enucleation, chromosome 3 monosomy, which is a poor prognostic factor, seems to be correlated with an increased amount of atypia on histopathology.
Keywords: melanoma • microscopy: light/fluorescence/immunohistochemistry • genetics