Monday, March 7, 2016
New Biomarker Identifies Uveal Melanoma Patients At High Risk For Metastasis (Research To Prevent Blindness)
A study by J. William Harbour, M.D., associate director for Basic Research and leader of the Eye Cancer Site Disease Group at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues published today in Clinical Cancer Research details the discovery of a biomarker that puts patients at a higher risk for metastasis of uveal melanoma.
Among uveal melanomas categorized as class 1, those with high levels of the biomarker PRAME mRNA were more likely to metastasize than those with low levels of PRAME mRNA, indicating that patients with this biomarker be monitored more closely for metastatic disease.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, Research to Prevent Blindness, the Melanoma Research Alliance, the Melanoma Research Foundation, the 2015 AACR-Ocular Melanoma Foundation Fellowship, and the Department of Defense. . .