Early Results of Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Uveal Melanoma and Risk Factors for Radiation Retinopathy

To report treatment results and complications of stereotactic radiosurgery in uveal malignant melanoma and to identify risk factors for development of radiation retinopathy.

This was a retrospective study of 36 patients diagnosed with uveal melanoma between 2014 and 2019. Best corrected visual acuity, funduscopic findings, basal tumor diameter and tumor thickness were recorded at baseline and at follow-up visits at 3-month intervals. The response of tumors to stereotactic radiosurgery and complications were determined.

The mean basal diameter of tumor was 10.2 (range: 4.0-19.4, standard deviation [SD]: ±3.3) mm x 9.7 (range: 4.5-18.0, SD: ±3.3), tumor thickness was 5.1 (range: 2.0-11.0, ±2.4) mm at baseline. The mean follow-up period was 17.2 (range: 6-48, SD: ±10.43) months. The mean visual acuity was 0.5 (SD: ±0.3) logMAR before treatment and 0.6 (SD: ±0.3) logMAR after the mean follow-up period. The most common complications after stereotactic radiosurgery were cataract (38.9%) and radiation retinopathy (27.7%). There was a statistically significant relation between radiation retinopathy development and tumor distance from the optic disc (p=0.04). The rate of eye salvage was 83.3% in this study.

Our short-term results show stereotactic radiosurgery was an effective and sustained treatment modality among the other eye conservation therapies.