Metastatic uveal melanoma: biology and emerging treatments

Abstract

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular cancer in adults. Nearly half of primary uveal melanoma tumors metastasize, but there are currently no effective therapies for metastatic uveal melanoma. The recent discovery of mutations that underlie uveal melanoma metastasis, growth, and survival provide a key to the molecular understanding of this disease. Much work is now underway to leverage this knowledge to develop effective therapies. This review summarizes recently discovered molecular features of uveal melanoma and therapies being explored to capitalize on this knowledge.