APRIL and BAFF play a key role in differentiating vitreoretinal lymphoma from uveitis

•APRIL and BAFF levels are elevated in the AH of vitreoretinal lymphoma patients and uveitis, and our results show that BAFF and APRIL AH levels are markedly increased in patients with uveitis compared with VRL.•In this retrospective study, we illustrate the potential of APRIL and BAFF as reliable diagnostic biomarkers for differentiating VRL from uveitis.•A significant reduction in AH APRIL and BAFF levels during chemotherapy suggests that they can be used as an indicator for efficacy assessment for VRL patients.