Treatment selection for uveal melanoma

Abstract

Uveal melanomas can be treated by various forms and combinations of radiotherapy, phototherapy and local resection, which need to be tailored to the tumour size, location and extent as well as the patient's needs, fears and wishes. Many factors complicate the process of treatment selection and these include limited resources, incomplete knowledge of the patient's condition (e.g. genetic tumour type) and inadequate scientific evidence on which to base decision making. In this chapter, I describe how I select treatment for small, large, juxtapapillary, ciliary and iridal melanomas, respectively, and for melanocytic tumours of indeterminate malignancy. I also describe how I interact with patients so as to select the most suitable treatment in a personalised manner. Finally, I discuss challenges and shortcomings in this aspect of patient care, also providing suggestions for further research in this field.