Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To determine the incidence of primary uveal melanoma in the United States over a 25 year period from 1973 to 1997. Methods: Systematic review of patients with primary uveal melanoma, [ICDO-2 codes C69.3 (choroid melanoma) and C69.4 (ciliary body and iris)] derived from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) program database in the United Sates from 1973 to 1997. . The SEER Program currently collects data from 11 population-based cancer registries and three supplemental registries covering approximately 14 percent of the United States. Approximately 160,000 new cases are accessioned each year within the SEER catchment areas with 98 percent case ascertainment. The significance of trend in age adjusted incidence rate was determined using chi-square test and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results:There were 87,007 number of melanomas in the file for 25 year period. 2493 cases of uveal melanoma represented 2.9% of all recorded cases of melanoma. Almost all cases (99.4%) were reported by the hospitals and histopathologic confirmation was available in 81.3% of cases. The mean age adjusted incidence of uveal melanoma in the United States was 4.3 per million (4.1-4.5; 95% CI interval). The majority of cases (97.8%) occurred in the white population with white: black ratio of almost 150: 1. There was significant variation of incidence between sexes [males=4.9 (4.6-5.2) 95% CI interval; females=3.7 (3.5-3.9) 95% CI interval]. There was no significant variation of incidence by the geographic location of the registry and over the entire period of observation (chi-square test). Conclusions: The mean age adjusted incidence of uveal melanoma (4.3 per million) in the United States is similar to that reported from European countries. The age adjusted incidence rate of uveal melanoma has remained stable for the last 25 years.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: pre • melanoma • oncology