OCCURRENCE OF CUTANEOUS AND UVEAL MELANOMA IN PATIENTS WITH UVEAL MELANOMA AND THEIR FIRST DEGREE RELATIVES

Uveal and cutaneous melanomas are rare tumours, but have been describe d to occur together in one patient or in members of the same family. A group of 109 consecutive uveal melanoma patients from one specialized ocular tumour clinic were investigated dermatologically. The patient' s own history and medical data and the family history of skin or eye p roblems were recorded. A total of three cutaneous melanomas were found as a result of this study - two in ocular melanoma patients and one i n a first-degree relative. Four patients had first-degree relatives wi th a skin melanoma (in three of these families dysplastic naevus syndr ome was also found), and one patient had a first-degree relative with an uveal melanoma. To rnd cutaneous and uveal melanoma coexisting in t wo cases and cutaneous melanoma in first-degree relatives in four case s out of a total of 109 uveal melanoma patients seems more than a coin cidence. A linking factor in three cases was the familial atypical mul tiple mole melanoma syndrome, suggesting a common genetic predispositi on to both malignancies in these families. In our only family with fam ilial uveal melanoma, cutaneous melanoma and atypical naevi did not oc cur. A different genetic mechanism for these cases is probable. (C) 19 98 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.