Rates of local control, metastasis, and overall survival in patients with posterior uveal melanomas treated with ruthenium-106 plaques.

The prognostic importance of clinically assessed tumor variables, patient variables, and treatment variables of 184 patients treated with ruthenium-106 eye plaques for uveal melanoma was studied using crude survival, metastatic disease and local tumor control as the endpoints. Using the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, tumor diameter, age and sex were identified as the strongest variables predicting survival. Risk of metastasis was found to be dependent on tumor size (diameter) only and the metastasis was generally observed within 6 years after the end of treatment (96%). Clinically diagnosed local tumor control was predicted by tumor T-stage, treatment time, and total dose to the sclera. No correlation between metastatic disease and local failure was detected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)