Tumors of the anterior uvea. I. Metastasizing malignant melanoma of the iris.

Although metastases from malignant melanomas of the ciliary body and choroid are common, similar tumors from the iris are rare. In this article seven such cases are described. They represent 3.5% of 196 cases in our files that were followed up for a minimum of five years where the tumor was confined to the iris and did not involve the ciliary body or the choroid. To our knowledge, this is the largest series to be described in the literature. Of the seven patients who died of metastases, six were male and autopsies were performed on four. There is evidence that diffusely infiltrating, heavily pigmented tumors, and tumors whose cell nuclei show prominent nucleoli are those most likely to metastasize.