Melanoma Research Foundation

The 2023 Cure Ocular Melanoma (CURE OM) Global Science Meeting was held in Philadelphia on November 6, 2023. There is increased awareness and dedicated research in uveal melanoma (UM), but unmet needs remain in the prevention, detection, and treatment of UM. The purpose of this meeting was to provide an international forum for the exchange of research ideas, to allow for discussion of basic science as well as clinical research on UM, and to gather input about advocacy and patient needs.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus and stateof-the-science statements are prepared by independent panels of health professionals and public representatives on the basis of 1) the results of a systematic literature review prepared under contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2) presentations by investigators working in areas relevant to the conference questions during a 2-day public session; 3) questions and statements from conference attendees during open discussion periods that are part of the public session; and 4) closed deliberations by the panel during the remainder of the second day and morning of the third. This statement is an independent report of the panel and is not a policy statement of the National Institutes of Health or the U.S. government. The statement reflects the panel’s assessment of medical knowledge available at the time the statement was written. Thus, it provides a “snapshot in time” of the state of knowledge on the conference topic. When reading the statement, keep in mind that new knowledge is inevitably accumulating through medical research. Hepatitis B is a major cause of liver disease worldwide, ranking as a substantial cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The development and use of a vaccine for hepatitis B virus (HBV) has resulted in a substantial decline in the number of new cases of acute hepatitis B among children, adolescents, and adults in the United States. However, this success has not yet been duplicated worldwide, and both acute and chronic HBV infection continue to represent important global health problems. Seven treatments are currently approved for adult patients with chronic HBV infection in the United States: interferon-, pegylated interferon-, lamivudine, adefovir dipivoxil, entecavir, telbivudine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. Interferon- and lamivudine have been approved for children with HBV infection. Although available randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) show encouraging short-term results— demonstrating the favorable effect of these agents on such intermediate markers of disease as HBV DNA level, liver enzyme tests, and liver histology— limited rigorous evidence exists demonstrating the effect of these therapies on important long-term clinical outcomes, such as the development of hepatocellular carcinoma or a reduction in deaths. Questions therefore remain about which groups of patients benefit from therapy and at which point in the course of disease this therapy should be initiated.