Dabrafenib for cutaneous melanoma infiltrating the vitreous: regression of metastasis and occurrence of uveitis as a secondary effect

Abstract

Intraocular metastasis of cutaneous melanoma is extremely infrequent. This typically occurs in advanced metastatic disease and has a poor survival prognosis. The most frequent reported treatment is radiotherapy. BRAF inhibitors are new, orally administered and very effective drugs used for metastatic cutaneous melanoma. Herein, we report a case of a 58-year-old patient with a recent diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma who consulted for floaters and presented vitreous opacities in both eyes. A diagnostic vitrectomy of his left eye was performed and pathologic analysis disclosed infiltrating melanoma cells in the vitreous. Treatment with dabrafenib (a type of BRAF inhibitor) achieved the regression of the intraocular metastasis in the right eye. Moreover, the patient presented a severe anterior uveitis due to dabrafenib, a well-known secondary effect of this drug.