Pigmentation and prognosis in uveal melanoma

Abstract

Uveal melanoma is a rare disease but it the most common intraocular tumour in adults. A lot is known about this disease, such as which factors give a short survival and a risk of metastases and how to effectively treat the primary tumour in the eye. However, some open issues remain. There is no gold standard for prognosis: in this thesis we discuss the methods to predict prognosis and test if joining two methods together (size and chromosome alterations) can give more accurate predictions. We also explore the role of pigmentation in the prognosis of patients with uveal melanoma. The most relevant issue is that there is no effective way to prevent the spread of metastases or to treat metastatic disease. In this thesis, we focus on two potential targets and we warn readers on the importance of characterizing cell line models before using them in drug testing.