The study was done to assess the outcomes of small choroidal melanoma following iodine-125 episcleral brachytherapy.
Patients with small choroidal melanoma that underwent iodine-125 episcleral brachytherapy were reviewed. Inclusion criterion for this study was the COMS small tumour size. Patients that received any form of prior therapy or adjuvant transpupillary thermotherapy were excluded. Outcome measures were VA, recurrence, ocular survival and metastasis at 3 years. Kaplan-Meier estimation was calculated for VA, recurrence, ocular survival and survival outcome at 3 years.
161 cases of choroidal melanoma were included in this study, with the mean age of 59.6 (14.1) years, and 93 (58%) were males. The mean apical height for the tumours were 2.1 (0.4) mm and mean (SD) LBD was 8.3 (2.2) mm. The mean follow-up was 40.7 months (37.1, 25 months). The VA was 20/50 or better in 69%. Only one recurrence event (1%) and one enucleation event (1%) were observed. Overall survival was 97%, and no metastatic events were observed at 3 years.
The study concluded that the small choroidal melanomas treated with iodine-125 episcleral brachytherapy have excellent outcomes. 69% of patients retained VA of 20/50 or better with very high local control and ocular survival rate 99.3% with the absence of metastasis (100%).
Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/02/bjophthalmol-2020-316873
