Toward monosomy 3 as the main prognosis factor of uveal melanoma: current cytogenetic data

Uveal melanoma is the most frequent intraocular cancer. The recent development of new technologies such as microsatellite analysis and comparative genomic hybridization have elucidated both the cytogenetics and the natural history of this disease. Fifty to 60% of uveal melanomas are linked to monosomy 3, which appears as an early and determinant event in tumor progression. Tumors with this anomaly have a very poor prognosis. Recent work suggests that this category of uveal melanomas represents a distinct pathological entity from that associated with normal disomy 3. Chromosome 6 aberrations probably make up a second entry point into the process of carcinogenesis, while gains in 8q seem to appear later in the natural history of uveal melanoma because of their higher frequency in larger tumors. Progress in genome analysis has identified regions in chromosomes 3, 6, and 8 as those most probably involved in tumorigenesis. It is to be hoped that this will soon lead to the discovery of the genes responsible.