Demographic and clinical characteristics of Uveal Melanoma in Chile

Background Uveal melanoma exhibits significant differences in incidence and clinical course across racial and ethnic groups. Hispanics remain underrepresented in the uveal melanoma literature. The purpose of this study is to collect representative information of the Chilean population, to better characterize the presentation of uveal melanoma in a predominantly Hispanic Chilean cohort. Methods Retrospective multicenter study of patients with a new diagnosis of uveal melanoma evaluated at four centers, two multispecialty hospitals and two ophthalmology-specialized centers, between October 2019 and January 2026. Results We found 135 patients. Mean age was 58.7 years (17–86). 73 patients (54.1%) were female. 85.2% were Hispanic and 14.8% Caucasian. The affected eye was the left eye in 68 patients (50.4%; p = 0.93). A history of a previous primary malignancy was present in 14.8% of patients. Choroidal tumors predominated (85.9%), followed by the ciliary body (7.4%) and the iris (6.7%). Mean tumor height was 6.8 mm (1.1–15.0 mm). Tumors were predominantly medium-sized lesions (54.1%), with detectable metastases at diagnosis present in 3.0% of patients. Plaque brachytherapy was the proposed primary treatment in 59.3% of patients, and enucleation in 38.5%. Conclusions The majority of patients were of Hispanic ethnicity. Clinical characteristics were similar to those described in the literature. However, our cohort showed a higher proportion of female patients and presented with thicker tumors.