Eye Cancers

A rare disease, eye cancer is typically a secondary cancer that spread from other parts of the body. Primary intraocular cancers eye cancers that start in the eyeball are actually less common than secondary intraocular cancers. Eye cancer in general is uncommon in your lifetime, you have a 1 in 1,215 chance of being diagnosed with an eye cancer. Melanoma of the eye is the most common primary intraocular cancer in adults, caused when the cells that produce pigmentation grow abnormally. Children are most often affected by retinoblastoma, an eye cancer that begins in the back of our eye called the retina. While most risk factors for eye cancers are not fully understood, researchers believe that too much sun exposure may contribute to developing this cancer. Yearly eye exams may help catch the cancer early. See an ophthalmologist, a medical doctor who specializes in eye diseases, if you notice a dark spot on your iris, the colored part of your eye.

Recently Answered

QHow does chemotherapy treat eye cancer?

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A Sigma Nursing answered

Lymphoma can cause neuropathy or damage to the cornea, leading to blindness. If it spreads to other parts of the body, it can damage them, and even lead to death. Lymphoma is more difficult to treat fully than ocular melanoma.

Treating lymphoma with chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is commonly used to treat lymphoma in the eye. Drugs are administered according to several methods. If the cancer is confined to the eye, drugs may be injected directly there. This procedure allows the use of a higher dose than might be tolerated by other parts of the body. The drugs can also be injected into the spine or a vein, or taken orally. Chemotherapy treatments attack various forms of the cancerous lymphocytes.

Side effects of using chemotherapy to treat lymphoma
Chemotherapy causes a variety of well-known side effects. In the process of attacking cancerous lymphocytes, it can also weaken healthy blood cells. This produces general exhaustion and susceptibility to infection. It also causes nausea and loss of appetite. Exercise can counteract these effects to some degree. Intraocular injections, if appropriate, can diminish the occurrence of these side effects in the first place.
QHow is chemotherapy used to treat retinoblastoma?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Chemotherapy is often used if retinoblastoma has spread outside of the eye. It may also be prescribed if the tumor simply threatens to spread. Chemotherapy targets the rapidly dividing cells of the cancer. Chemotherapy is thus often used to prepare the way for other treatments that can eliminate the cancer more effectively, whether within or outside the eye. For example, it may be used to shrink a tumor within the eye so it may be more easily destroyed by other methods. Chemotherapy may be systemic (injected into the bloodstream), injected around the eye, or even injected directly into the eye's blood supply -- this requires lower amounts of drugs than other methods.
QHow is retinoblastoma treated?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Treatment of retinoblastoma strongly depends on how far the cancer has progressed by the time it is discovered. Surgery, stem cell transplants, laser therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, cryotherapy, and thermotherapy are all possible treatments and are sometimes used in combination. In general, it is a good idea to seek out medical professionals experienced with eye cancer, since retinoblastoma is a rare disease with unique requirements.
QWhat causes retinoblastoma?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Retinoblastoma occurs when a malfunction in genetic material causes the production of unnecessary cells. The disease results from mutations to a gene called RB1, which prevents retinal tumors by regulating cell division. Cancer only occurs when both alleles of the gene are mutated. Hereditary mutations can increase the chances of retinoblastoma.
QWhat are the symptoms of retinoblastoma?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Retinoblastoma has several symptoms. When you shine a light in a child's eye, the pupil will look red because of the blood vessels, but if it looks white or pink, it can be a sign of retinoblastoma. It can also cause the eyes to become uncoordinated. More rarely it can cause eye pain or unusual redness.
QHow is retinoblastoma diagnosed?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Retinoblastoma is usually diagnosed during a standard eye exam for children. Changes in the color of the pupil or uncoordinated eyes suggest that the cancer may be present. If doctors suspect retinoblastoma, they will usually not risk a biopsy. Instead, they will use a standard array of imaging tests: ultrasound, CT scan, or MRI. Sometimes blood and genetic testing is used. Other tests may be used to determine whether the cancer has spread.
QWhat are the stages of retinoblastoma?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Medical professionals use a system called "staging" to communicate about the extent of a cancer. Retinoblastoma is divided into five stages that are basically organized around the extent to which the cancer has invaded the body and whether or not the eye can be saved. A Group 1 cancer is a small tumor in back of the eye. Group 5, the most serious stage describes a tumor occupying more than 50 percent of retina and spreading outside the eyeball.
QWhat are the long-term risks of retinoblastoma?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Retinoblastoma sometimes carries the risk of serious health problems. It can cause glaucoma, diminishing vision and causing pain. Retinoblastoma can also spread outside of the eye and cause damage to other organs, especially the brain. Retinoblastoma is a relatively treatable cancer. However, even after treatment, people who have had retinoblastoma have increased propensity for other forms of cancer.
QWhat increases my risk for retinoblastoma?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Retinoblastoma primarily occurs in children younger than three. Approximately one third of retinoblastomas are inherited on the RB1 gene; these cases are usually detected before the baby's first birthday. Retinoblastoma is unlike most cancers in that it has not been linked to generally unhealthy behavior.
QCan retinoblastoma be prevented?

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A Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center answered

Because retinoblastoma occurs so early in life, prevention is even more complicated than for other forms of cancer. People considering having children should talk to a genetic counselor about the risk of producing a baby with retinoblastoma. If there is hereditary risk of the disease, early screening can be highly effective in preventing the cancer from doing extreme damage.