Uveal melanoma is a rare cancer, affecting ~1600-1700 patients per year in the United States, but it is the most common intraocular cancer in adults. Uveal melanoma arises in the middle layer of the eye, the uvea tract, which consists of the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. Eyesparing radiation (brachytherapy or proton beam therapy) is the most common treatment approach, but approximately 10% of patients will undergo enucleation due to large and/or aggressive tumors that cannot be managed with radiation or due to eye pain or vision loss. Local treatment by radiation or enucleation is highly successful at controlling the primary tumor, with only ~5% chance of local recurrence. Most patients present with local disease and no evidence of metastases, however, as many as 50% of patients will ultimately experience distant metastasis, most commonly to the liver.
