Immuno-Morphometric Study of Choroid Melanoma Angiogenesis

Introduction: The lack of local epidemiologic data, and the progress of current diagnosis and treatment methods motivated us to evaluate our patients from the perspective of tumor vasculogenesis. The metastatic potential of the choroidal melanoma is well known, and the vasculogenesis is a promoter of it, making early diagnosis and treatment a necessity.
Material and method: In this paper we present 21 cases of choroidal malignant melanoma from 2005 to 2009. For all the patients the treatment was the enucleation of the eye, followed by histopathologic examination and imunohistochimic staining. Tumor vasculature was followed with immune-staining: CD31, CD105, SMA, Collagen IV. The results were digitalized and analyzed with the ImageJ software to demonstrate vasculogenesis.
Results: Vessels with CD31 positivity were dominant at the periphery, while CD105 positive new vessels were predominant centrally in the tumor mass. Collagen IV staining presented fragmentation and pluristratification of the vascular basal membranes, and the vascular smooth muscle was barely noticeable in the central areas.
Conclusions: The lesion of the vascular wall is evident, signaling the modification of the structure and proportion of the elements. The difference between the peripheral and central area is evident, well documented immunohistochemically and morphometrically. The differences are statistically significant.