[The regression behavior of choroid melanoma following radiotherapy--a new prognostic parameter?]

The present paper reports on follow-up examinations of 246 patients after Ruthenium106 treatment of choroidal melanomas (follow-up time 1.8 to 13 years). In January 1988, 212 patients were alive and free of metastases; 15 had died, 12 of them of melanoma metastases, and 17 could not be followed up. In a retrospective analysis of factors influencing tumor-related mortality, the rate of regression of irradiated tumors was found to be particularly significant. The mean time taken to reduce tumor volume by half was 4.4 months in patients who died of metastases, as against 6.6 months in a matched group of survivors. Using discriminance analysis, the difference was found to be highly significant (P = 0.0058). In the total patient population, a significant correlation was found between pretreatment tumor volume and the probability of metastases (P = 0.058). It may be concluded, though with the qualification that the number of tumor-related deaths was small, that the tumor regression rate is an important factor in the prognosis for patients with Ruthenium-treated malignant choroidal melanomas.