Published in:
01-06-2005 | Case Report
Prolonged survival after resection of liver metastases from uveal melanoma and intra-arterial chemotherapy
Published in: Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology | Issue 6/2005
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Background
To report the protracted 9-year survival of a patient after surgical management of multiple liver metastases from uveal melanoma.
Design
Interventional case report.
Methods
A 30-year-old patient, treated for choroidal melanoma by proton beam therapy, was semiannually followed by abdominal ultrasonography. Two years after initial treatment, a total body computed tomography scan suggested the diagnosis of isolated liver metastases.
Results
Multiple wedge resections and postoperative intra-arterial chemotherapy with fotemustine were performed. After 4 years, a metastatic nodule in the head of the pancreas was detected and surgically removed. Eighteen months later, metastases were progressively detected in other organs. The patient finally died of carcinomatous meningitis 9 years of first treatment of metastases.
Conclusions
In the present case, the surgical control of liver metastases associated with intra-arterial chemotherapy prolonged the quality and length of life with progressive disease extension to other organs.