Clinical research; epidemiological research; ocular oncology; fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH); multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA); next generation sequencing.

Genetic and epidemiological characteristics of malignant melanoma of the posterior uveal tract (PUM) in relation to survival. PUM is lethal in 50% of cases due to metastatic spread. In order to identify patients with a high risk of metastatic formation which could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy at the time of diagnosis I evaluate the effect of clinical and genetic characteristics on survival. In order to obtain a tumor sample for genetic testing it is necessary to perform a biopsy. My main research focus has been to validate the applied biopsy method in terms of safety and efficacy.

In my current research I evaluate the driver mutations and chromosomal alterations in matched pairs of primary tumors and metastasis from patients with PUM to identify differences which could lead to a better understanding of the metastatic process and hopefully identify potential treatment targets.

I have no conflicts of interest