Choroid NeoplasmsPhase 3NCT00000124
Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS)
A Phase 3 study testing Brachytherapy and Eye Removal in people with Choroid Neoplasms and Uveitis, run by National Eye Institute (NEI).
Trial summary
To evaluate therapeutic interventions for patients who have choroidal melanoma, the most common primary eye cancer affecting adults, and to assess the potential life-preserving as well as sight-preserving role of radiation therapy. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Choroid Neoplasms, Uveitis
- What is being tested?
- Brachytherapy and Eye Removal
- Type of treatment
- Surgery or procedure
- How many people
- Not given
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- Nov 1986to not given
- Phase
- Phase 3
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Men and women eligible for the study must be age 21 or older, have primary choroidal melanoma in only one eye, and have no evidence of metastatic disease. Accurate estimation of tumor thickness by echography must also be possible.
About this study
To evaluate therapeutic interventions for patients who have choroidal melanoma, the most common primary eye cancer affecting adults, and to assess the potential life-preserving as well as sight-preserving role of radiation therapy.
To determine which of two standard treatments, removal of the eye or brachytherapy, is more likely to prolong survival of eligible patients with medium-sized choroidal melanoma.
To determine whether preoperative radiation prolongs life for patients whose eyes with large choroidal melanoma are enucleated.
Read the detailed description
For more than 100 years, removal of the eye (enucleation) has been the standard treatment for choroidal melanoma. Before the COMS was initiated in 1986, interest in radiation therapy had increased because of the potential for saving the eye and perhaps some vision. However, the merits of radiation with respect to prolonging patient survival were unknown. The best data from nonrandomized studies suggested that there was no difference in length of remaining life between patients treated with radiation and those whose eyes were enucleated. Thus, it was appropriate and necessary to conduct a randomized, controlled clinical trial in which a large number of patients would be followed for many years in order to compare enucleation and radiation with respect to relative success in prolonging survival of choroidal melanoma patients.
The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) is a set of long-term, multicenter, randomized controlled trials. In the trial for patients with tumors of medium size, enucleation and irradiation with an iodine-125 episcleral plaque are compared on the basis of length of remaining life. All randomized patients will be followed for 5 to 15 years or until death. For patients randomly assigned to enucleation, the eye was removed following a standard procedure. For patients assigned to plaque irradiation, the margins of the tumor were located and the dimensions of the tumor were measured by the ophthalmic surgeon. A gold plaque with a plastic seed carrier that contained the proper dosage and configuration of radioactive iodine seeds was sutured to the outside (sclera) of the eye over the base of the tumor. This procedure made possible the delivery of a high dose of radiation to a very localized area (85 Gy [TG-43] to the tumor apex). The plaque typically was removed from the eye after three to seven days. Enrollment was completed in this trial in July 1998 with 1,317 patients enrolled. Clinical follow-up of patients will end in July 2003.
In the COMS trial of preoperative radiation, patients with large tumors were randomized to enucleation alone or to enucleation preceded by 20 Gy of external beam radiation. The two randomly assigned groups of patients were followed for at least five years or until death and have been compared on the basis of length of remaining life and other outcomes. Enrollment in this trial was completed in December 1994, with 1,003 patients enrolled. Clinical follow-up of all patients in this trial ended in July 2000.
Accrual to a nonrandomized pilot study to assess the feasibility of a randomized trial for small tumors was halted in 1989. Additional followup of those 204 patients was carried out from 1994 to 1996.
The COMS is conducted in 43 clinical centers located in major population areas of the United States and Canada. Six resource centers participate and have major roles in quality assurance for the study. Information gathered and analyzed includes time to death from all causes, time to death from cancer (whether metastatic choroidal melanoma or not), diagnosis of other tumors, complications of radiation, and changes in visual acuity. A parallel study of quality of life for patients enrolled in the trial of radioactive plaque was initiated in January 1995. From November 1986 through July 1998, 8,712 patients with choroidal melanoma of all sizes were screened for eligibility for a COMS clinical trial.
- Conditions
- Choroid Neoplasms, Uveitis
- Being tested
- Brachytherapy, Eye Removal
- Keywords
- Choroidal Melanoma, Ocular Melanoma
- Medical subject headings
- Choroid Neoplasms, Uveitis, Uveal Melanoma
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
BrachytherapyProcedure or surgery
Eye RemovalProcedure or surgery
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted24 Sep 1999 (estimated)
- Study startNov 1986
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (25)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Choroid NeoplasmsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 3
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- National Eye Institute (NEI)
- Sponsor type
- US National Institutes of Health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00000124
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- NEI-23
- Status last verified
- Jun 2002
- First submitted
- 23 Sep 1999
- Last updated
- 2 Jun 2006
- Results posted
- No
Publications
Byrne SF, Marsh MJ, Boldt HC, Green RL, Johnson RN, Wilson DJ. Consistency of observations from echograms made centrally in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study COMS Report No. 13. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2002 Feb;9(1):11-27. doi: 10.1076/opep.9.1.11.1719.
PubMed 11815892Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Sociodemographic and clinical predictors of participation in two randomized trials: findings from the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study COMS report no. 7. Control Clin Trials. 2001 Oct;22(5):526-37. doi: 10.1016/s0197-2456(01)00157-x.
PubMed 11578786Moy CS, Albert DM, Diener-West M, McCaffrey LD, Scully RE, Willson JK; Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group, prepared by COMS Mortality Coding Committee. Cause-specific mortality coding. methods in the collaborative ocular melanoma study coms report no. 14. Control Clin Trials. 2001 Jun;22(3):248-62. doi: 10.1016/s0197-2456(01)00113-1.
PubMed 11384789Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group.. Assessment of metastatic disease status at death in 435 patients with large choroidal melanoma in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS): COMS report no. 15. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001 May;119(5):670-6. doi: 10.1001/archopht.119.5.670.
PubMed 11346394Melia BM, Abramson DH, Albert DM, Boldt HC, Earle JD, Hanson WF, Montague P, Moy CS, Schachat AP, Simpson ER, Straatsma BR, Vine AK, Weingeist TA; Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Collaborative ocular melanoma study (COMS) randomized trial of I-125 brachytherapy for medium choroidal melanoma. I. Visual acuity after 3 years COMS report no. 16. Ophthalmology. 2001 Feb;108(2):348-66. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(00)00526-1.
PubMed 11158813Echography (Ultrasound) Procedures for the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS), Report no. 12, Part II. J Ophthalmic Nurs Technol. 1999 Sep-Oct;18(5):219-32. No abstract available.
PubMed 10847049Echography (ultrasound) procedures for the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS), Report no. 12, Part I. J Ophthalmic Nurs Technol. 1999 Jul-Aug;18(4):143-9. No abstract available.
PubMed 10847038Quality of life assessment in the collaborative ocular melanoma study: design and methods. COMS-QOLS Report No. 1. COMS Quality of Life Study Group. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 1999 Mar;6(1):5-17. doi: 10.1076/opep.6.1.5.1565.
PubMed 10384680The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) randomized trial of pre-enucleation radiation of large choroidal melanoma III: local complications and observations following enucleation COMS report no. 11. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Sep;126(3):362-72. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00091-9.
PubMed 9744369The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) randomized trial of pre-enucleation radiation of large choroidal melanoma II: initial mortality findings. COMS report no. 10. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Jun;125(6):779-96. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00039-7.
PubMed 9645716The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) randomized trial of pre-enucleation radiation of large choroidal melanoma I: characteristics of patients enrolled and not enrolled. COMS report no. 9. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Jun;125(6):767-78. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00038-5.
PubMed 9645715Histopathologic characteristics of uveal melanomas in eyes enucleated from the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study. COMS report no. 6. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Jun;125(6):745-66. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00040-3.
PubMed 9645714Factors predictive of growth and treatment of small choroidal melanoma: COMS Report No. 5. The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1997 Dec;115(12):1537-44. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1997.01100160707007.
PubMed 9400787Grossniklaus HE, Albert DM, Green WR, Conway BP, Hovland KR. Clear cell differentiation in choroidal melanoma. COMS report no. 8. Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1997 Jul;115(7):894-8. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1997.01100160064010.
PubMed 9230830Mortality in patients with small choroidal melanoma. COMS report no. 4. The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1997 Jul;115(7):886-93.
PubMed 9230829
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Jun 2006. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS)
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00000124
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- NEI-23
- Conditions
- Choroid Neoplasms, Uveitis
- Keywords
- Choroidal Melanoma, Ocular Melanoma
- Phase
- Phase 3
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Unknown status
- Lead sponsor
- National Eye Institute (NEI)US National Institutes of Health
- Study start
- Nov 1986
- First posted
- 24 Sep 1999 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
To evaluate therapeutic interventions for patients who have choroidal melanoma, the most common primary eye cancer affecting adults, and to assess the potential life-preserving as well as sight-preserving role of radiation therapy.
To determine which of two standard treatments, removal of the eye or brachytherapy, is more likely to prolong survival of eligible patients with medium-sized choroidal melanoma.
To determine whether preoperative radiation prolongs life for patients whose eyes with large choroidal melanoma are enucleated.
Detailed description
For more than 100 years, removal of the eye (enucleation) has been the standard treatment for choroidal melanoma. Before the COMS was initiated in 1986, interest in radiation therapy had increased because of the potential for saving the eye and perhaps some vision. However, the merits of radiation with respect to prolonging patient survival were unknown. The best data from nonrandomized studies suggested that there was no difference in length of remaining life between patients treated with radiation and those whose eyes were enucleated. Thus, it was appropriate and necessary to conduct a randomized, controlled clinical trial in which a large number of patients would be followed for many years in order to compare enucleation and radiation with respect to relative success in prolonging survival of choroidal melanoma patients.
The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) is a set of long-term, multicenter, randomized controlled trials. In the trial for patients with tumors of medium size, enucleation and irradiation with an iodine-125 episcleral plaque are compared on the basis of length of remaining life. All randomized patients will be followed for 5 to 15 years or until death. For patients randomly assigned to enucleation, the eye was removed following a standard procedure. For patients assigned to plaque irradiation, the margins of the tumor were located and the dimensions of the tumor were measured by the ophthalmic surgeon. A gold plaque with a plastic seed carrier that contained the proper dosage and configuration of radioactive iodine seeds was sutured to the outside (sclera) of the eye over the base of the tumor. This procedure made possible the delivery of a high dose of radiation to a very localized area (85 Gy [TG-43] to the tumor apex). The plaque typically was removed from the eye after three to seven days. Enrollment was completed in this trial in July 1998 with 1,317 patients enrolled. Clinical follow-up of patients will end in July 2003.
In the COMS trial of preoperative radiation, patients with large tumors were randomized to enucleation alone or to enucleation preceded by 20 Gy of external beam radiation. The two randomly assigned groups of patients were followed for at least five years or until death and have been compared on the basis of length of remaining life and other outcomes. Enrollment in this trial was completed in December 1994, with 1,003 patients enrolled. Clinical follow-up of all patients in this trial ended in July 2000.
Accrual to a nonrandomized pilot study to assess the feasibility of a randomized trial for small tumors was halted in 1989. Additional followup of those 204 patients was carried out from 1994 to 1996.
The COMS is conducted in 43 clinical centers located in major population areas of the United States and Canada. Six resource centers participate and have major roles in quality assurance for the study. Information gathered and analyzed includes time to death from all causes, time to death from cancer (whether metastatic choroidal melanoma or not), diagnosis of other tumors, complications of radiation, and changes in visual acuity. A parallel study of quality of life for patients enrolled in the trial of radioactive plaque was initiated in January 1995. From November 1986 through July 1998, 8,712 patients with choroidal melanoma of all sizes were screened for eligibility for a COMS clinical trial.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 21 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Brachytherapy | Procedure or surgery | – |
| Eye Removal | Procedure or surgery | – |
Primary outcome
Not reported in the source record.
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Jun 2006.
- Background: PubMed 11815892Byrne SF, Marsh MJ, Boldt HC, Green RL, Johnson RN, Wilson DJ. Consistency of observations from echograms made centrally in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study COMS Report No. 13. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2002 Feb;9(1):11-27. doi: 10.1076/opep.9.1.11.1719.
- Background: PubMed 11578786Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Sociodemographic and clinical predictors of participation in two randomized trials: findings from the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study COMS report no. 7. Control Clin Trials. 2001 Oct;22(5):526-37. doi: 10.1016/s0197-2456(01)00157-x.
- Background: PubMed 11384789Moy CS, Albert DM, Diener-West M, McCaffrey LD, Scully RE, Willson JK; Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group, prepared by COMS Mortality Coding Committee. Cause-specific mortality coding. methods in the collaborative ocular melanoma study coms report no. 14. Control Clin Trials. 2001 Jun;22(3):248-62. doi: 10.1016/s0197-2456(01)00113-1.
- Background: PubMed 11346394Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group.. Assessment of metastatic disease status at death in 435 patients with large choroidal melanoma in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS): COMS report no. 15. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001 May;119(5):670-6. doi: 10.1001/archopht.119.5.670.
- Background: PubMed 11158813Melia BM, Abramson DH, Albert DM, Boldt HC, Earle JD, Hanson WF, Montague P, Moy CS, Schachat AP, Simpson ER, Straatsma BR, Vine AK, Weingeist TA; Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study Group. Collaborative ocular melanoma study (COMS) randomized trial of I-125 brachytherapy for medium choroidal melanoma. I. Visual acuity after 3 years COMS report no. 16. Ophthalmology. 2001 Feb;108(2):348-66. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(00)00526-1.
- Background: PubMed 10847049Echography (Ultrasound) Procedures for the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS), Report no. 12, Part II. J Ophthalmic Nurs Technol. 1999 Sep-Oct;18(5):219-32. No abstract available.
- Background: PubMed 10847038Echography (ultrasound) procedures for the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS), Report no. 12, Part I. J Ophthalmic Nurs Technol. 1999 Jul-Aug;18(4):143-9. No abstract available.
- Background: PubMed 10384680Quality of life assessment in the collaborative ocular melanoma study: design and methods. COMS-QOLS Report No. 1. COMS Quality of Life Study Group. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 1999 Mar;6(1):5-17. doi: 10.1076/opep.6.1.5.1565.
- Background: PubMed 9744369The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) randomized trial of pre-enucleation radiation of large choroidal melanoma III: local complications and observations following enucleation COMS report no. 11. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Sep;126(3):362-72. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00091-9.
- Background: PubMed 9645716The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) randomized trial of pre-enucleation radiation of large choroidal melanoma II: initial mortality findings. COMS report no. 10. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Jun;125(6):779-96. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00039-7.
- Background: PubMed 9645715The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) randomized trial of pre-enucleation radiation of large choroidal melanoma I: characteristics of patients enrolled and not enrolled. COMS report no. 9. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Jun;125(6):767-78. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00038-5.
- Background: PubMed 9645714Histopathologic characteristics of uveal melanomas in eyes enucleated from the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study. COMS report no. 6. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998 Jun;125(6):745-66. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(98)00040-3.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Phase 3 study testing Brachytherapy and Eye Removal in people with Choroid Neoplasms and Uveitis, run by National Eye Institute (NEI).
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Jun 2006. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
What does this phase mean?
Phase 3 studies compare the treatment with the current standard treatment or a placebo in a large group, to confirm how well it works and watch for side effects.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
Results are not available in the source record.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00000124, which also lists 25 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Jun 2006.