Quality of Life in Uveal Melanoma Patients After Treatment With Brachytherapy and/or Enucleation

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. Nowadays, it remains a controversy about the treatment of UM. The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study with 1317 patients enrrolled and randomized to enucleation vs iodine 125 brachytherapy, reports that mortality rates have not been found to differ up to 12 years after treatment. So it is important to evaluate if there is a significant difference in the life quality between two modalities of treatment. The aim of this work was to determine the quality of life of UM patients after enucleation vs. iodine–125 brachytherapy. Methods:A sample of 65 patients diagnosed of UM was followed a minimum time of 6 months. For quality of life evaluation we used the modified VF–14 test. Results:The mean age of the patients was 64, 47 years (range, 38–88 years). Of the 65 studied patients, 14 were treated with enucleation, 45 received iodine–125 brachytherapy and 6 both treatments. The follow up was 6–52 months. Three years after brachytherapy, the visual acuity decreased from 0,30± 0,34 to 0,16±0,30. The mean duration of the interview was 17,7 ±4,5 minutes. No correlation was found between the age and the duration of the interview. The diminution in modified VF–14 test scores after enucleation in previously radiated patients was statistically significant. In previously radiated patients, the diminution in test scores after enucleation was statistically significant. Conclusions: The VF–14 modified test is a valid method to evaluate the quality of life of UM patients after treatment. The age of UM patients do not constitute an impediment to testing the quality of life. The impairment to carry out the activities of daily life (ADL) was correlated to the diminution of visual acuity after treatment. The patients that received brachytherapy showed a significant low difficulty to carry out the ADL that enucleated patients. The patients that received brachytherapy think that their quality of life is better than these treated with enucleation.

Keywords: quality of life • melanoma • oncology