May 2006
Volume 47, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   May 2006
Uveal Melanoma in the Black Population
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • J.M. Heur
    Department of Ophthalmic Oncology, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
  • A. Topham
    Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups Inc., Philadelphia, PA
  • A.D. Singh
    Department of Ophthalmic Oncology, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  J.M. Heur, None; A. Topham, None; A.D. Singh, None.
  • Footnotes
    Support  None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science May 2006, Vol.47, 1499. doi:
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      J.M. Heur, A. Topham, A.D. Singh; Uveal Melanoma in the Black Population . Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2006;47(13):1499.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract
 
Purpose:
 

To calculate the incidence of uveal melanoma in the black population in the United States from 1996 to 2002 and review the literature.

 
Methods:
 

Data on black patients with primary uveal melanoma (International Classification of Oncology [ICDO–2] codes C69.3 [choroidal melanoma] and C69.4 [iris and ciliary body melanoma]) were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program for the years 1996–2002. Ocular melanoma coded as site–nonspecific or retinal were excluded from the analysis. Age adjusted incidence rates were calculated by race (Non–Hispanic White, Hispanic White, All White, Black). All incidence rates were adjusted to the 2000 US standard population. Articles were searched with the terms: uveal, melanoma, black, and African in PubMed up to November 2005. Case reports and review articles of uveal melanoma in black patients were selected.

 
Results:
 

The average age adjusted incidence rates of uveal melanoma for the black population was 0.36 per million as compared with 5.44 per million for the white population (Figure 1). The 25 reported cases of uveal melanoma in the black population showed mean age at diagnosis of 46 years (range: 4 to 83 years). 14 tumors were medium sized and 4 were large (COMS criteria). 5 tumors were located in the ciliary body, 16 in the choroid, and none in the iris.

 
Conclusions:
 

The incidence of uveal melanoma in the black population was 15 times less frequent than in the white population. There were no reported cases of iris melanoma in the black population. Increased uveal pigmentation in the black population is protective against occurrence of uveal melanoma. Figure 1. Racial incidence rates for uveal melanoma in the United States from 1996 to 2002.  

 
Keywords: melanoma • tumors • uvea 
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