Uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most frequently occurring primary tumor in the eye, with an incidence of 7 per million every year in the Western world. Approximately 50% of all patients will die of metastatic disease. Several prognostic factors have been reported in UM of which the most promising are cytogenetic anomalies. Structural abnormalities on chromosomes 3, 6, and 8q have been linked to metastatic death. Although these associations are rather strong, they are not specific or sensitive enough for the prediction of clinical outcome. Gene expression profiling revealed two tumour classes with a strong correlation with survival. This enabled us to select patients eligible for immunotherapy and in collaboration with NLS in Nijmegen a patient trial will be started. Our research is focussed on a further characterization of the involved chromosomal regions and the epigenetic mechanism responsible for the enhanced or decreased expression of onco and tumour suppressor genes.