Comparison of Survival Rates for Patients With Uveal Melanoma After Treatment With Proton Beam Irradiation or Enucleation

We compared survival experiences for three groups with uveal melanoma: (1) 120 patients treated by proton beam irradiation from 1975 to 1981; (2) 235 patients treated by enucleation from 1953 to 1973 (enucleation group 1); and (3) 161 patients treated by enucleation from 1975 to 1981 (enucleation group 2). The following variables were predictive of melanoma-related deaths. Treatment: rate ratio (ratio of the rate of death for one category of the variable relative to the rate of death for another category) of 6.32 (95% confidence interval 1.70 to 23.51) for enucleation group 1 vs proton beam, 3.06 (0.81 to 11.54) for enucleation group 2 vs proton beam, and 2.07 (1.05 to 4.07) for enucleation group 1 vs enucleation group 2. Size: rate ratio of 3.61 (1.51 to 8.64) for large (16+ mm) vs small (