Uveal melanoma (UM) is a malignant intraocular tumor in adults. Metastasis develops in almost half of the patients and over 90% of the metastases are in the liver. With the advances in molecular targeting therapy for melanoma, a proper metastasis animal model is of increasing importance for testing the accuracy and effectiveness of systemic therapies. Here, we describe a xenograft model for mimicking human UM liver metastasis by injecting human UM cells into the vitreous cavity in nude mice. The athymic nude mice are immunocompromised and suitable for xenograft tumor growth and metastasis, and intravitreal injection of cells is a quicker and easier operation under a binocular scope, thereby it is simple and effective to test human UM growth and metastasis.
