Nuclear Pseudoinclusions and Intranuclear Grooves Have an Important Impact on the Long-term Survival of Patients With Uveal Melanoma.

AIM The evaluation of the prognostic role of nuclear pseudoinclusions (NPIs) and nuclear grooves (NGs) in UM. PATIENTS AND METHODS We examined the presence of NPIs and NGs in hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections from 164 removed eyeballs with uveal melanoma (UM) and analyzed statistical relationships with clinical and pathological parameters and the long-term survival rate. RESULTS We observed NPIs in 38% and NG in 21% of all UM. The presence of NPIs was significantly positively correlated with epithelioid type, marked pleomorphism, and the presence of multinucleated giant cells, macro-nucleoli and multiple nucleoli. Patients with UM with NPIs had a significantly reduced overall survival rate (p<0.0001). The presence of NGs was significantly inversely correlated with marked pleomorphism, and the presence of multinucleated giant cells, macro-nucleoli and multiple nucleoli. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated significantly better overall (p<0.01) and disease-free (p<0.05) survival rates for patients with NGs. CONCLUSION The obtained results suggest that the presence of NGs in UM is associated with a better prognosis, as opposed to the presence of NPIs, which means the prognosis is worse.