Biology of advanced uveal melanoma and next steps for clinical therapeutics.

Authors

Jason J Luke, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Harvard Medical School Boston, MA USA
Pierre L Triozzi, Wake Forest University Cancer Center Medical Center Boulevard Winston-Salem, NC USA
Kyle C McKenna, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Pittsburgh, PA USA
Erwin G Van Meir, School of Medicine The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Atlanta, GA USA
Jeffrey E Gershenwald, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX USA
Boris C Bastian, University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center San Francisco, CA USA
J Silvio Gutkind, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Bethesda, MD USA
Anne M Bowcock, National Heart and Lung Institute Imperial College London UK
Howard Z Streicher, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD USA
Poulam M Patel, University of Nottingham Nottingham UK
Takami Sato, Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA USAFollow
Jeffery A Sossman, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN USA
Mario Sznol, Yale Cancer Center Yale University New Haven, CT USA
Jack Welch, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD USA
Magdalena Thurin, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD USA
Sara Selig, Brigham and Woman's Hospital and the Melanoma Research Foundation CURE OM Washington, DC USA
Keith T Flaherty, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Harvard Medical School Boston, MA USAFollow
Richard D Carvajal, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY USAFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2015

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It was published in: Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research.

2015 Mar;28(2):135-47.

The published version is available at DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.12304

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Abstract

Uveal melanoma is the most common intraocular malignancy although it is a rare subset of all melanomas. Uveal melanoma has distinct biology relative to cutaneous melanoma, with widely divergent patient outcomes. Patients diagnosed with a primary uveal melanoma can be stratified for risk of metastasis by cytogenetics or gene expression profiling, with approximately half of patients developing metastatic disease, predominately hepatic in location, over a 15-yr period. Historically, no systemic therapy has been associated with a clear clinical benefit for patients with advanced disease, and median survival remains poor. Here, as a joint effort between the Melanoma Research Foundation's ocular melanoma initiative, CURE OM and the National Cancer Institute, the current understanding of the molecular and immunobiology of uveal melanoma is reviewed, and on-going laboratory research into the disease is highlighted. Finally, recent investigations relevant to clinical management via targeted and immunotherapies are reviewed, and next steps in the development of clinical therapeutics are discussed.

PubMed ID

25113308

Share

COinS