Evaluating Prognosis of Patients With Ocular Melanoma

Ragini Kudchadkar, MD, associate professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, associate director, Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program-Clinical/Service, Emory University School of Medicine, Winship Cancer Institute, discusses the overall prognosis of patients with ocular melanoma.

Ocular melanoma is a different “beast” than cutaneous melanoma, says Kudchadkar. The biology of the disease itself is very different in ocular melanoma, particularly in terms of how it primarily metastasizes to the liver, although it can go to other places.

Responses to traditional therapies, including immunotherapy, are not yet near the degree of responses observed in patients with cutaneous melanoma, so patients’ prognosis is much more guarded, according to Kudchadkar. In patients with ocular melanoma, research has not made advances near the level of advancements that have been made in cutaneous melanoma. More research is necessary for the patient population.

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