Melanoma of the Choroid: The Prognostic Significance of Argyrophil Fibers

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Abstract
The histologic types of malignant melanoma of the eye have been the subject of special study of the Division of Ophthalmology at the Army Medical Museum for the past six years. In 1931 a paper was presented by Callender (1) before the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology giving the results, over a brief period, of 111 cases. At present 273 cases are included in the Registry and the indications with relation to prognosis, as stated in 1931, still hold (Table I). In this report it was shown that the more malignant tumors were of the epithelioid, fascicular, and mixed-cell types, and that the spindle-cell subtypes A and B were comparatively benign. A short description of each of these types will refresh the memories of those who have read Callender's paper, and elucidate his classification for the benefit of those to whom the original paper is not available. The spindle-cell type, consisting of fusiform cells with long oval nuclei, is subdivided into (A) those in which the nucleus has a delicate, reticular structure with the nucleolus not well defined, and (B) those having a rather coarse nuclear network and a prominent nucleolus. The epithelioid type is composed of polygonal cells usually of relatively large size, though there is considerable variation both in size and shape. The nucleus is large, round or somewhat oval, and the nucleolus is distinct. The fascicular type is based rather on the columnar arrangement of the cells than on nuclear morphology. The mixed-cell type is, as the name indicates, a combination of two or more of the above types.

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