Abstract:Objective To study the clinicopathological characteristics of uveal melanoma (UM) in elderly patients. Methods A retrospective study was performed on 57 patients with UM, who were admitted to the Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital from January 2018 to February 2022. They were divided into the elderly group (over the age of 60 years old) and the control group (under the age of 60 years old). The clinicopathological characteristics and molecular genetics alterations were analyzed and compared between two groups. Results There were 15 males and 8 females in elderly group, with 14 cases occurring in the left eye and 9 cases occurring in the right eye. In control group, there were 22 males and 12 females, with 18 cases occurring in the left eye and 16 cases occurring in the right eye. Uveal melanoma occurred in choroid in both groups. The maximum diameter ［ (12.96±1.23) mm vs (10.18±0.74) mm, P＜0.01］ and the thickness ［ (4.35±0.43) mm vs (3.68±0.36) mm, P＜0.01］ of UM in elderly group were significantly greater than those in control group. The expression of immunohistochemical marker Ki-67≥5% was also higher than that in control group (65.22% vs 35.29%, P＜0.05). Besides, there were also some differences in histological subtypes, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, necrosis extension, mitotic phase progression and AJCC stage, but there was no statistical difference in them between two groups. Molecular genetic examination showed the abnormalities of chromosome 3 and chromosome 8 in both groups, and the positive rate of c-myc for chromosome 8 in elderly group (2/6) was slightly higher than that in control group (0/8), without significant difference in it (P=0.165). Conclusion There are some differences in the clinicopathological features of UM between elderly patients and non-elderly patients. It is necessary to fully understand its clinicopathological characteristics for accurate diagnosis and treatment.