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Updated: May 17, 2026
Implantation and Evaluation of Melanoma in the Murine Choroid via Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: December 2, 2022
Ciliary body lymphangiogenesis in uveal melanoma with and without extraocular extension
Anam M Khan1, Dov B Kagan, Neeru Gupta
1Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Purpose:
To determine whether peritumoral ciliary body lymphatics are found in uveal melanoma in the absence of extraocular extension.
Design:
Consecutive case series from 1999 to 2005.
Participants:
Thirty-two uveal melanoma cases involving the ciliary body from the Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory, University of Toronto, of which 23 showed no extraocular extension.
Methods:
All immunofluorescence studies and quantitative analyses were performed in a masked fashion. Sections were immunostained for the presence of lymphatic endothelium using podoplanin (D2-40 antibody) and blood vessel endothelium using CD34.
Main Outcome Measures:
Identification and quantification of D2-40-positive lymphatic vessels in the ciliary body.
Results:
In every case (n = 32), D2-40-positive lymphatics were detected in the peritumoral ciliary body. Lymphatic signal was significantly increased in the peritumoral ciliary body compared with the nonperitumoral ciliary body (P < 0.0001). There was no difference in lymphatic signal between cases with and without extraocular extension (P > 0.05). Lymphatics were not detected within the tumors.
Conclusions:
Peritumoral lymphangiogenesis was present in the ciliary body in uveal melanomas with and without extraocular extension, and as such, the presence of peritumoral lymphatics is not recommended as a prognostic marker in uveal melanoma.
