Metastatic disease in conjunctival malignant melanoma: a retrospective analysis of 167 cases

Objective To analyse the data of a cohort of patients with conjunctival melanoma in order to analyse risk and guarding factors and to investigate the impact on metastatic disease with and without adjuvant therapy. Methods and analysis We have retrospectively analysed the impact of clinical aspects and adjuvant therapies after tumour excision or biopsy in 167 patients cared for at the University Hospital Essen and the University Hospital Tübingen, Germany. Clinical as well as histopathological data and therapeutic approaches were analysed with regard to regional (lymphatic) and/or distant (haematogenous) spread during follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier estimate method was used to analyse survival and the Cox regression hazard model to define the probability of metastases depending on different factors. P value of