The time course of irradiation changes in proton beam-treated uveal melanomas.

PubMed ID: 8414415

Author(s): Gragoudas ES, Egan KM, Saornil MA, Walsh SM, Albert DM, Seddon JM. The time course of irradiation changes in proton beam-treated uveal melanomas. Ophthalmology. 1993 Oct;100(10):1555-9; discussion 1560. PMID 8414415

Journal: Ophthalmology, Volume 100, Issue 10, Oct 1993

BACKGROUND Although histopathologic changes in uveal melanomas treated by irradiation have been well characterized, the timing of these effects after irradiation has not been previously evaluated.

METHODS The series consisted of a total of 92 eyes with uveal melanoma, enucleated at various intervals after proton irradiation (range, 1 month to 8 years) due to complications (n = 66) or tumor growth (n = 22), or at autopsy (n = 4). Study slides were read, using a standard protocol, by two pathologists masked to the timing of the enucleation after irradiation and the reason for the surgery.

RESULTS The prevalence of inflammation decreased whereas fibrosis increased with time from 15% of cases enucleated within 12 months (early cases) to 61% of those enucleated more than 30 months (late cases) after irradiation (P for trend = 0.0005). Tumor necrosis and blood vessel damage occurred early, and the prevalence of these changes was constant over time. Excluding tumors with evidence of growth after irradiation, mitotic figures became progressively less common as the interval between irradiation and enucleation increased (P for trend = 0.015); no mitotic figures were present in 40 high-power fields more than 30 months after irradiation.

CONCLUSION Histopathologic changes in irradiated melanomas vary according to the time elapsed since irradiation. Inflammation decreases with time whereas fibrosis becomes more prevalent with time after irradiation. Among controlled tumors, mitotic figures appear only in recently irradiated tumors.