Pathologic examination of ciliary body melanoma treated with proton beam irradiation
A. P. Ferry, C. J. Blair, E. S. Gragoudas and S. C. Volk
Proton beam irradiation is one of the radiotherapeutic techniques currently
used to manage uveal melanomas. Although this therapeutic modality has been
in use for a decade and although nearly 500 patients have been so treated,
there are only two published reports of the pathologic examination of these
eyes. Key features found on pathologic examination of our patient's
enucleated eye included vascular alterations in the tumor's blood supply,
lymphocytic infiltrates, and lipoidal degeneration of tumor cells. The
interval from therapy to enucleation in our patient was much longer than in
the several previously reported cases, a factor allowing for the
development of a more cumulative radiation effect on the tumor. The extent
and degree of radiation-induced necrosis in our patient's tumor were more
profound than in previous reports.
