Update on the management of posterior uveal melanoma.

The current status of the management of posterior uveal melanoma has been reviewed. Patient age and health status are important factors that affect the therapeutic decision. Plaque radiotherapy, surgical resection, and enucleation are currently the mainstays of management, depending on the indication. However, there has been an increasing trend toward the use of transpupillary thermotherapy alone or in combination with plaque radiotherapy. Photoradiation treatment and gamma-knife surgery are still being evaluated. Based on the current data, conservative or eye-preserving treatment methods and enucleation are comparable in terms of survival. Early diagnosis and treatment is necessary to minimize ocular morbidity and improve patient survival. Poor prognostic factors for posterior uveal melanoma include older age, tumor size, ciliary body involvement, and epithelioid cell type.