Assessing the Clinical Effectiveness of Serum Biomarkers in the Diagnosis of Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults. The local treatment is effective, but patients still die of metastatic disease. It has been shown that early diagnosis of a few isolated metastases can result in a clean surgical excision of the metastases and an extension of the expected survival from 7-12 months to over 10 years on some patients. Many serum biomarkers are employed in Oncology. It makes sense to try the relevant ones in the diagnosis of metastatic uveal melanoma. The investigators hypothesis is that a soluble serum biomarker level changes upon development of metastatic disease either by secretion by the tumor cells themselves or by their environment. Detection of changes in biomarker level may lead to the diagnosis of metastases before they can be detected by imaging modalities, thus allowing for early treatment of the metastases and a better chance of success.