When a Uveal Melanoma Case Needs a Proton Therapy Expert Assessment

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. Standard treatment options include enucleation (removal of the eye), plaque brachytherapy (a radioactive disc placed on the eye wall), and proton therapy. The choice depends on tumor size, location within the eye, and the likelihood of preserving useful vision.

An expert assessment from a dedicated ocular proton centre matters most when the tumor is large, when it sits close to the optic disc or fovea, or when the treating team is uncertain whether the eye can be preserved. Centres that have treated thousands of ocular cases bring pattern recognition and technical refinements that lower-volume facilities cannot replicate.

Centre Antoine Lacassagne in Nice is one of the world's leading ocular proton therapy facilities. By 2020, the centre had treated over 6,600 ocular cases, about 80% of which were uveal melanoma (Centre Antoine Lacassagne, 2022). Proton therapy for uveal melanoma at high-volume centres achieves local control rates above 95% at five years, with eye preservation rates that depend on tumor characteristics but are substantially higher than enucleation alone.

Prof. Sauerwein's group in Essen has worked directly with the Nice proton therapy programme over many years. This collaboration means that cases referred through BNCT Global consulting benefit from direct access to the clinical team at one of Europe's most experienced ocular proton centres.