No Gender Differences in Long-Term Survival after Brachytherapy of 1,541 Patients with Uveal Melanoma

In several malignancies, gender-based survival differences after specific therapeutic interventions have been demonstrated. It is not known whether such differences exist after plaque brachytherapy of uveal melanoma.

All patients who received brachytherapy for uveal melanoma at St. Erik Eye Hospital from November 1, 1979 through November 20, 2017 were included (n = 1,541). Retrospective data were retrieved including baseline patient and tumor characteristics, brachytherapy nuclide (ruthenium-106 or iodine-125), radiation dose, treatment duration, tumor relapses, date of metastasis, and cause of death.

A total of 775 men and 766 women were treated with plaque brachytherapy. There were no significant differences between the genders in baseline characteristics, treatment, or follow-up. Men and women had similar rates of tumor relapses, hazard for repeated brachytherapy (men vs. women 0.8, p = 0.47), enucleation-free survival, and survival after detection of metastasis. Five-, 10-, and 15-year melanoma-related mortality was 14, 24, and 27% for men and 15, 26, and 32% for women, respectively. There were no significant differences in hazard for melanoma-related mortality (men vs. women 0.9, p = 0.32), median Kaplan-Meier disease-specific survival (men 18.2 years, women 15.5 years, p = 0.22), or median overall survival (men 13.5 years, women 12.6 years, p = 0.60).

There are no relevant differences between men and women in ocular or patient survival after brachytherapy for uveal melanoma.