Low Metastasis Rate Seen for Radiation Plus Silicone Oil in Uveal Melanoma

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Patients with uveal melanoma mainly treated with plaque brachytherapy with vitrectomy and silicone oil for radiation attenuation have low rates of metastases, according to a study published online Aug. 18 in Cancers.

Axel Rivas, from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and colleagues examined the performance of prognostic markers in 37 patients with uveal melanoma followed for a median of 4.0 ± 3.7 years.

The researchers found that 27, seven, and three patients underwent plaque brachytherapy with vitrectomy and silicone oil for radiation attenuation, underwent brachytherapy alone, and had enucleation, respectively. No intraocular failures occurred. Overall, six patients (16.2 percent) developed metastases, and one died of metastatic disease. A low risk for metastasis was predicted by disomy 3 and class 1 gene expression profile (>90 percent negative predictive value). In “high-risk” patients, low positive predictive value and prognostic accuracy were seen for monosomy 3 and class 2 gene expression profile.

“Our study shows that combining plaque brachytherapy with vitrectomy and silicone oil not only helps patients preserve their vision but may also improve survival,” senior author Tara A. McCannel, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Since most centers still rely on plaque brachytherapy alone to treat uveal melanoma, these findings underscore the need to adopt our vitrectomy with silicone oil approach.”

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