Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2025
Implantation and Evaluation of Melanoma in the Murine Choroid via Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: December 2, 2022
Intratumoral bacteria in uveal melanoma: A case report
Katherine Vega Escobar1, Paola Ordonez Armijos1, Tatyana Milman1,2
1Department of Pathology, Wills Eye Hospital, Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Purpose:
Intratumoral bacteria and their potential application to cancer immunotherapy have been a topic of interest in recent studies. To our knowledge, bacteria in uveal melanoma have not been previously reported.
Observations:
We describe a patient with a large choroidal melanoma, measuring 18 × 16 mm in basal dimension and 15 mm in ultrasonographic thickness, managed by plaque brachytherapy. At the time of plaque removal, a prophylactic scleral patch graft was placed to protect from anticipated scleral necrosis. Progressive ocular ischemia led to a blind and painful eye. The enucleated eye demonstrated an extensively necrotic and heavily pigmented mushroom-shaped regressed cilichoroidal mass deep to the scleral patch graft. Numerous Gram-positive cocci were noted within the regressed uveal melanoma and the adjacent sclera.
Conclusions And Importance:
This case highlights the fact that regressed uveal melanomas can contain intra-tumoral bacteria.
