Uveal Melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults. Despite the advances in numerous ophthalmic techniques leading to the increased accuracy of diagnosing this malignancy, the ten-year mortality rate for patients has remained unchanged at approximately fifty percent. Knowing this, further understanding of the specific steps that occur within the metastatic cascade of uveal melanoma is required. / Our laboratory utilizes five human uveal melanoma cell lines (92.1, SP6.5, MKT-BR, OCM-1, UW-1) of known proliferative, invasive, and metastatic potential. We used four methods to characterize the presence and roles of the chemotactic factors CXCL12, CXCL8, CXCL1 and HGF in these five cell lines. We also used a novel peptide inhibitor (TN14003) to block the biological action of CXCL12 on its receptor CXCR4. / With the results obtained from this thesis, we were able to establish the novel presence and importance of the four chosen factors for this malignancy. We were also able to display the positive effects TN14003 had on inhibiting uveal melanoma cell migration in vitro. This may lead to a future therapeutic target, which ultimately may delay or inhibit the metastatic process in uveal melanoma patients, improving the present unaffected ten-year mortality rate.

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