Outcomes of Proton Beam Radiotherapy for Large Non-Peripapillary Choroidal and Ciliary Body Melanoma at TRIUMF and the BC Cancer Agency.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To report outcomes and toxicity after proton beam radiotherapy for non-peripapillary choroidal and ciliary body melanoma considered unsuitable for other eye-sparing therapies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An existing database of 77 patients with non-peripapillary tumors treated at TRIUMF, Canada, including patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics, was updated with ocular complications and follow-up status from chart reviews.

RESULTS: Most of the patients had large tumors: 61% were T3/T4 tumors (AJCC classification), while 48% were large by the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study classification. The median thickness was 7.1 mm, and the ciliary body was involved in 35%. After 5 and 10 years, the actuarial ocular tumor control rate was 85 and 85%, metastasis-free survival was 72 and 57%, overall survival was 77 and 63%, the enucleation rate was 22 and 22%, and complete blindness was found in 38 and 38%, respectively. On univariate analysis, patients with ciliary body involvement had significantly worse metastasis-free survival and overall survival rates compared to patients without ciliary body involvement (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Proton therapy for large anteriorly located tumors resulted in acceptable ocular tumor control and survival rates. The risk of blindness and severe toxicity requiring enucleation was low, and a substantial proportion of patients maintained useful vision.