Association of high metabolic activity measured by positron emission tomography imaging with poor prognosis of choroidal melanoma

Aims: To evaluate the prognostic value of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in patients with choroidal melanoma. Methods: We undertook a retrospective review of 40 consecutive patients with choroidal melanoma who underwent pretreatment whole-body PET, received either brachytherapy using ruthenium-106 plaque, enucleation or gamma knife radiotherapy, and had 1 year of follow-up. Metabolic activity of choroidal melanoma measured as standardised uptake value (SUV) by PET imaging was evaluated with respect to the survival of patients. Results: SUV (p=0.003) and the largest basal diameter of the tumour (p=0.003) were significantly correlated with metastatic death (Cox proportional hazards regression). There was an inverse correlation between tumour metabolic activity and time to metastasis (p=0.049; linear regression). Conclusion: Metabolic activity by PET imaging significantly predicted the survival of patients with choroidal melanoma.