Uveal melanoma is a cancer of the eye involving the iris, ciliary body, or choroid (collectively referred to as the uvea). It is known as melanoma (usually related to skin cancer) because it is still a cancer that arises from the melanocytes, the pigment cells that give color to the skin and the eye. Uveal cancer cells are known to carry a so called "class 2 signature" which ranks the metastatic cells as one of the more aggressive classes of invasive cells.
Recently, doctors at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis conducted studies that show that drugs known as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors alter the conformation of the aggressive form of DNA in uveal melanoma, which changes the gene expression, which makes these invasive uveal cancer cells less aggressive. HDAC inhibitors have commonly been used to treat seizures.
