ISITE: Investigation of Somatic Alterations in Tumours of the Eye

Launched by THE WELLCOME SANGER INSTITUTE · Feb 28, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Uveal melanomas are rare cancers that arise from pigment cells (melanocytes) in the eye. Like most rare cancers, limited interest in developing new therapies and a lack of clinical trials contributes towards relatively worse survival rates compared with common cancers. Following treatment of uveal melanoma with either surgical removal of the eye (enucleation) or local radiation (plaque brachytherapy), approximately half of all patients will develop metastases (new tumours). Most patients will die within a few months despite current therapies.

Conjunctival melanomas (cancer of the surface o...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Patients ≥ 18 years of age or over
• • Histological diagnosis of primary or recurrent/metastatic ocular melanoma\*.
• • Healthy eye, blood and liver samples stored in biobanks with consent for use in research.
• • \*With the exception of primary uveal melanoma where a clinical diagnosis is sufficient. A diagnostic accuracy of \>99% is achieved using the combination of ophthalmoscopy (examination of the back of the eye), fundus photography (photograph of the back of the eye) and an eye ultrasound.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients \< 18 years of age