Uveal Versus Cutaneous Melanoma; Same Origin, Very Distinct Tumor Types

Monique K van der Kooij; Frank M Speetjens; Sjoerd H van der Burg; Ellen Kapiteijn

doi:10.3390/cancers11060845

Uveal Versus Cutaneous Melanoma; Same Origin, Very Distinct Tumor Types

Cancers (Basel). 2019 Jun 19;11(6):845. doi: 10.3390/cancers11060845.

Authors

Monique K van der Kooij¹, Frank M Speetjens², Sjoerd H van der Burg³, Ellen Kapiteijn⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. m.k.van_der_kooij@lumc.nl.
² Department of Medical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. f.m.speetjens@lumc.nl.
³ Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. s.h.van_der_burg@lumc.nl.
⁴ Department of Medical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. h.w.kapiteijn@lumc.nl.

Abstract

Here, we critically evaluated the knowledge on cutaneous melanoma (CM) and uveal melanoma (UM). Both cancer types derive from melanocytes that share the same embryonic origin and display the same cellular function. Despite their common origin, both CM and UM display extreme differences in their genetic alterations and biological behavior. We discuss the differences in genetic alterations, metastatic routes, tumor biology, and tumor-host interactions in the context of their clinical responses to targeted- and immunotherapy.

Keywords: adaptive immunity; cutaneous melanoma; driver mutations; liver metastases; metastatic uveal melanoma; uveal melanoma.

Publication types

Review