Uveal melanoma

What is it?

Uveal melanoma is a type of eye cancer. It affects about 6 people per million. Those with pale skin and blue or grey eyes are the most at risk.

  • Causes

    In uveal melanoma, tumours begin in the cells that give eyes their colour (these cells are called ‘melanocytes’). There is not usually any family history of the condition, and the exact cause in still unknown.  

  • Symptoms

    Symptoms of uveal melanoma depend on exactly where the tumour is within the middle layer of the eye (the uvea).

    They may include blurred vision, seeing flashes of light, floaters, a change in eye colour and changes to how much of the world you can see (the field of vision).

    Uveal melanoma is most likely to be spotted at a routine eye exam.

  • Treatments

    The main aim of treating uveal melanoma is to keep vision where possible and, if not, to prevent the eye becoming painful, and stop the cancer from spreading beyond the eye.

    Treatments for uveal melanoma include radiotherapy and surgery. Both options can mean that the eye can be preserved and the local tumour growth can be controlled.

    However, there may be some sight loss as a side-effect of treatment. In some cases, surgery to remove the whole eye may be the best option, for example if the tumour is very large or if the patient would rather have it done.

    Unfortunately, in around half of people with this type of cancer, tumour cells will escape into the blood stream and spread from the eye to the liver. If so, it is almost always fatal.

  • Research

    At the moment there is no treatment that can extend the lives of people with uveal melanoma that has spread to the liver. So we need research to provide some better treatment options.

    We also need to understand a lot more about what makes the tumours begin, grow and spread. It might be possible to develop better tools to predict which tumours are likely to spread, as well as better non-surgical treatment, to lower the chances of sight loss.

    Read our research projects
  • Clinical trials


    What are clinical trials


    Taking part


    UK Clinical Trials Gateway


    NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio



Last updated September 2015
Approved by Prof. Sarah Coupland, University of Liverpool.

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