Modern developments in histopathologic assessment of uveal melanomas

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular neoplasm in adults. Those histopathologic features that distinguish uveal nevi from small melanomas, and those that distinguish highly malignant from less malignant lesions, have been the subject of controversy over the past decades. This controversy arises primarily from the subjective methods by which such histopathologic distinctions are made, and the resulting ambiguities may have misguided the clinician in his management of certain uveal lesions. With methods made possible by modern technology, pathologists can now assess the malignant potential of uveal melanomas by objective measurement of cytologic structures within the tumor.