The Cancer Genome Atlas for uveal melanoma is predictive of patient outcomes

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary eye malignancy. Despite excellent local tumor rates, UM is a life-threatening disease with moderate systemic metastatic rates. In the past, certain clinical features were shown to be predictive of patient prognosis, including tumor thickness, tumor diameter, ciliary body involvement, and histopathologic factors. Genetic markers have lately been used to predict patient outcomes. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a worldwide effort developed by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute to study numerous mutations in various cancer types. TCGA has explored chromosome copy number alterations in UM, messenger RNA, micro-RNA, and long noncoding RNA expression levels and established four prognostic classes: group A (chromosome 3 and 8 disomy), group B (chromosome 3 disomy and 8q gain), group C (chromosome 3 monosomy and/or 8q gain), and group D (chromosome 3 monosomy and multiple 8q gains). Multiple studies have validated TCGA classification and have reported that it has been highly predictive of UM metastasis and patient survival.