MORTALITY OF PATIENTS WITH UVEAL MELANOMA DETECTED BY DIABETIC RETINOPATHY SCREENING

PURPOSE: To investigate whether early detection and treatment of uveal melanoma by screening was associated with a lower mortality rate. METHODS: Retrospective assessment of prospectively collected data comparing 132 patients with uveal melanoma referred by the National Diabetic Screening Service with 608 control patients referred through other means. RESULTS: Mean tumor diameter was smaller in the diabetic screening group (11.1 mm vs. 12.5 mm) as was tumor thickness (3.4 mm vs. 5.4 mm). The prevalence of high-risk monosomy 3 was also lower (17/40, 43% vs. 62/110, 56%). Despite a higher rate of systemic comorbidities in the patients diagnosed through screening and despite older age at diagnosis, the 5-year all-cause mortality was similar in both groups (17% vs. 20%); however, the metastatic mortality was lower in the diabetic screening group (11/132, 8% vs. 95/608, 16%). CONCLUSION: Despite higher rates of comorbidities, the patients detected at diabetic screening had a lower 5-year mortality rate. The diabetic screening programme enabled detection and treatment of posterior uveal melanomas at an earlier stage. However, the confounding factors of lead and length time bias are not to be ignored.