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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
Implantation and Evaluation of Melanoma in the Murine Choroid via Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: December 2, 2022
Core Endoresection as Neoadjuvant Treatment of Uveal Melanoma
Iwona Rospond-Kubiak1, Carl Groenewald2, Sarah E Coupland3
1Liverpool Ocular Oncology Centre, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK; Department of Ophthalmology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
Aim:
To present a case of neoadjuvant treatment of uveal melanoma with a limited core endoresection, which enabled ruthenium plaque radiotherapy to be administered.
Material And Methods:
A 77-year-old woman presented in 2005 with a ciliochoroidal uveal melanoma measuring 7.2 by 6.5 mm basally with a thickness of 6.2 mm. The vision in the affected eye was 6/9. Because of diagnostic uncertainty, we performed a biopsy, which produced a copious sample. The biopsy serendipitously reduced the tumour thickness to 4.4 mm, making ruthenium plaque brachytherapy possible.
Results:
Histopathological examination showed the tumour to be a melanoma predominantly of spindle cell type. Postoperative complications included a dense vitreous haemorrhage, which cleared spontaneously, and raised intraocular pressure, controlled with latanoprost. Seven years after brachytherapy, the vision was 6/5 and the thickness of the residual tumour was 2.5 mm. Nine years after treatment, there was no evidence of any intra- or extraocular seeding or distant metastases.
Conclusions:
Core endoresection of a ciliochoroidal melanoma may reduce tumour thickness enough to allow subsequent ruthenium plaque radiotherapy.
