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Influence of race on uveal melanoma metastasis-free survival: a matched comparative analysis between African American and Caucasian American cohorts

Eye volume 39, pages 3197–3199 (2025)Cite this article

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Uveal melanoma (UM) has a higher incidence in the Caucasian population [1]. SEER database data from 1992 to 2000 showed age-adjusted incidence rates per million of 0.31 for Black, 0.38 for Asian, 1.67 for Hispanic, and 6.02 for White individuals [1]. The relative risk for Whites compared to Blacks is 19-fold higher [1]. This disparity suggests possible differential effects of racial factors on metastatic risk associated with UM. Herein, we perform a matched comparison between African American (AA) and Caucasian American (CA) cohorts to delineate the influence of racial variances on metastasis-free survival (MFS) of UM.

Retrospective matched cohort analysis was performed among patients with UM from a database of 8034 patients evaluated between 1972 and 2007 at Ocular Oncology Service at Will Eye Hospital. 33 AA patients was identified. After excluding cases with incomplete data or lacking matched comparators (none of whom developed metastasis during follow-up), 27 AA patients were matched to 68 CA patients using a 1:3 nearest-neighbour algorithm. Matching variables included age (±5 years), sex, ultrasound tumour thickness (±1 mm), largest basal diameter (±2 mm), and anterior tumour margin location (iris, ciliary body, ora to equator, equator to macula, or macula). All matched controls were non-Hispanic and non-Asian White individuals to reduce potential confounding due to racial heterogeneity. Race was self-reported by patients at the time of clinical intake and recorded in the medical records.

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Fig. 1: Influence of race on uveal melanoma metastasis-free survival.

Data availability

CLS, M.D., has had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data. The data sets generated and/or analysed in the current study are not publicly available.

References

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Funding

Support provided in part by the Jerry A Shields MD Eye Cancer Fund, Philadelphia, PA (CLS) and the Eye Tumor Research Foundation, Philadelphia, PA (CLS). The founders had no role in the design and conduct of the study, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, and in the preparation, review or approval of the manuscript. Carol L. Shields, MD has had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocular Oncology Service, Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Hidayet Sener, Rolika Bansal, Jerry A. Shields & Carol L. Shields

Authors
  1. Hidayet Sener
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  2. Rolika Bansal
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  3. Jerry A. Shields
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  4. Carol L. Shields
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Contributions

Concept and design – CLS, JS; Data collection and/or processing – HS; Analysis and/or interpretation – HS, RB, CLS; Literature search – HS; Writing manuscript – HS; Critical review – CLS, JS, RB.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol L. Shields.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics

All procedures involving human subjects adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to enrolment in the study. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Ocular Oncology Service, Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University under IRB number #2024-24.

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Sener, H., Bansal, R., Shields, J.A. et al. Influence of race on uveal melanoma metastasis-free survival: a matched comparative analysis between African American and Caucasian American cohorts. Eye 39, 3197–3199 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-025-04055-y

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