Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:To correlate survival from choroidal melanomas with monosomy 3 and various histopathological parameters. Methods:Seventy–three cases of archival choroidal melanomas were retrieved from the pathology department. The patients had either died of metastatic melanoma (38) or were alive or dead from other causes after a minimum period of 3 years (mean 19.7 years; range 3 to 30 years) (35). The presence or absence of monosomy 3 was assessed by chromosome in situ hybridization. The following histopathological parameters were assessed: tumour size, cell type, intrascleral spread, mitotic activity, presence of vascular loops and necrosis. Results:Monosomy 3 was detected in 25 of the 38 cases with metastasizing melanoma; the 35 non–metastasizing tumors were all balanced for chromosome 3. Monosomy 3, tumor size >15mm, the presence of epithelioid cells and large areas of necrosis within the tumor were all significantly associated with metastases–related death (p=0.0001, p=0.002, p=0.001 and p=0.02 respectively). In the 38 patients with metastasizing melanoma there was no significant difference in time to death (mean time to death for monosomy 1792+/–36 days; balanced 1540+/–36 days). Similarly there was no association with time to death for any of the histopathological parameters. Conclusions:Monosomy 3 is a significant predictor of death from metastatic melanoma but not of time to death. In this study large tumor size, presence of epithelioid cells, and large areas of necrosis correlated with death from metastatic melanoma.
Keywords: melanoma • in situ hybridization • pathology: experimental