[Multiple neoplasms in patients with uveal melanoma]

To study the prevalence of multiple neoplasms in patients affected by uveal melanoma in Spain and to relate these with survival.

We carried out a longitudinal prospective study of the prevalence of multiple neoplasms in patients diagnosed to have a uveal melanoma during the years 1984-2005. The data has been analysed for the following variables: age, sex, date of diagnosis, affected eye, origin and tumoral size, classification according to COMS (Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study), time of follow-up, presence of other neoplasms, current clinical state, date and cause of death.

Three hundred and five patients affected by uveal melanoma have been studied in the Ocular Oncology Unit of our institution; 24 patients (7.9%) had evidence in their medical reports of one or more additional neoplasms. Excluding cutaneous neoplasms originating in basal cells, this number reduced to 22 patients (7.2%). We did not find any statistically significant differences among the presentation age, sex or localization of the melanoma (ciliary body or choroid) and the presence or absence of a second neoplasm. When we analysed the proportion of patients with metastatic disease (both alive and dead) who presented with a second neoplasm (40.9%), we found a statistically significant relationship between these variables (Chi-square test, p=0.004).

We have observed a percentage of second neoplasms similar to that described in other international studies. We did not find a larger proportion with a second neoplasm according to the sex, age, or tumoral localization, nor did we observe a higher frequency of any particular second neoplasm. We have defined a relationship between metastasic uveal melanoma, and the development of a second neoplasm, which clearly indicates a need for increased systemic follow-up in such patients.