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. 2019 Oct;5(6):432-439.
doi: 10.1159/000497186. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

No Gender Differences in Long-Term Survival after Brachytherapy of 1,541 Patients with Uveal Melanoma

Gustav Stålhammar  1   2   3 , Thonnie Rose See  3 , Maria Filì  1 , Stefan Seregard  1   2
Affiliations

No Gender Differences in Long-Term Survival after Brachytherapy of 1,541 Patients with Uveal Melanoma

Gustav Stålhammar et al. Ocul Oncol Pathol. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Background: In several malignancies, gender-based survival differences after specific therapeutic interventions have been demonstrated. It is not known whether such differences exist after plaque brachytherapy of uveal melanoma.

Methods: All patients who received brachytherapy for uveal melanoma at St. Erik Eye Hospital from November 1, 1979 through November 20, 2017 were included (n = 1,541). Retrospective data were retrieved including baseline patient and tumor characteristics, brachytherapy nuclide (ruthenium-106 or iodine-125), radiation dose, treatment duration, tumor relapses, date of metastasis, and cause of death.

Results: A total of 775 men and 766 women were treated with plaque brachytherapy. There were no significant differences between the genders in baseline characteristics, treatment, or follow-up. Men and women had similar rates of tumor relapses, hazard for repeated brachytherapy (men vs. women 0.8, p = 0.47), enucleation-free survival, and survival after detection of metastasis. Five-, 10-, and 15-year melanoma-related mortality was 14, 24, and 27% for men and 15, 26, and 32% for women, respectively. There were no significant differences in hazard for melanoma-related mortality (men vs. women 0.9, p = 0.32), median Kaplan-Meier disease-specific survival (men 18.2 years, women 15.5 years, p = 0.22), or median overall survival (men 13.5 years, women 12.6 years, p = 0.60).

Conclusion: There are no relevant differences between men and women in ocular or patient survival after brachytherapy for uveal melanoma.

Keywords: Brachytherapy; Gender; Survival; Uveal melanoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have any sponsorship or funding arrangements related to this research.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan-Meier cumulative disease-specific survival proportion after detection of metastasis. Median survival was 0.9 years for men (95% CI 0.3–1.4) and 1.1 years for women (95% CI 0.7–1.4, log-rank p = 0.12).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bivariate Cox regression cumulative hazard for melanoma-related mortality of men versus women of 0.9 (95% CI 0.7–1.1, log-rank p = 0.32) after brachytherapy. Gender and tumor thickness were entered as covariates.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
a Kaplan-Meier cumulative disease-specific survival proportion after brachytherapy. Median survival in men 18.2 years (95% CI 13.4–22.9) and in women 15.5 years (95% CI 13.8–17.1, log-rank p = 0.22). b Kaplan-Meier cumulative overall survival proportion after brachytherapy. Median survival in men 13.5 years (95% CI 11.7–15.3) and in women 12.6 years (95% CI 10.7–14.6, log-rank p = 0.60).
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