Ocular Tumours

Introduction:

Tumours in the eye usually are secondary tumours caused by cancers that have spread from other parts of the body, especially the breast, lung, bowel or prostate. Two types of primary tumours arise within the eye itself and are known as retinoblastoma in children and melanoma in adults. Retinoblastoma is a cancer of the retina, the eye's light-sensitive tissue. This most common childhood eye cancer usually strikes children under age five, affecting 500 to 600 in the United States each year. In nearly a third of the cases, retinoblastoma occurs in both eyes. While symptoms are not evident early in the disease, increasing pain and vision loss eventually signal the problem.

Diagnosis:

In addition to damaging vision, eye tumors can spread to the optic nerve, the brain and the rest of the body. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are extremely important. Melanoma tends to spread via blood vessels to distant organs. Wilmer ophthalmologists and other highly skilled physicians, like the pathologist, play a crucial role in making the precise diagnosis and in determining the progression of the tumour.

Types:

1. Ocular Melanoma:

Melanoma, a malignant tumour arising from pigment cells called melanocytes is often occurs in the uveal tract of the eye constituted by the iris, ciliary body and choroid. Iris melanomas often present in Caucasians as a brown nodule over the iris that deforms the pupil. Left untreated, iris melanomas tend to perforate the eyeball. The Ciliary body and choroid are covered by the white sclera and visible only when the pupil is widely dilated. A diffuse (mushroom or collar button shaped) mass with dilated blood vessels, in a person between 40-50 years, would suggest a ciliary body or choroid melanomas.Choroidal Melanoma is the most common of all uveal tract melanomas. A person between 40-50 years of age may suddenly develop a mushroom or collar button shaped mass in the choroid. This growth is a choroidal melanoma, the most common among all the uveal tract melanomas.

2. Retinoblastoma:

Sometimes, a child is taken to an eye specialist on account of a peculiar the yellow reflection from the eye. The child’s eyes resemble those of a cat. This reflection is due to a malignant intraocular tumor called retinoblastoma, arises from immature retinal cells (or retinoblasts). Retinoblastomas spread to the extra-ocular tissues like the optic nerve and brain. It may also involve the bony socket called the orbit, where the eyeball is lodged.

3. Lymphoma:

Lymphoma, a white blood cell tumour, is seen as a discrete tissue mass anywhere in the body, for example the eye, lymph glands and the gut. Intraocular lymphoma affects the inner layers of the eyeball (retina or choroid). Lymphomas are usually bilateral, affecting both the eyes. Like all other lymphomas, ocular lymphomas are managed by radiotherapy, which can literally melt the tumour.

Treatment:
There are various ways to treat eye tumours, depending on the diagnosis, size and aggressiveness of the tumour, and other factors. Certain small tumours may respond to laser treatment or freezing (cryosurgery). In some instances, it is possible to remove a tumour surgically and still preserve vision. The treatment fine-tunes radiation therapy for eye tumours, focusing it more precisely on the eye. This minimizes the amount of radiation reaching healthy tissue. If the eye cancer is advanced and must be treated aggressively or removed, plastic surgeons perform reconstructive eye surgery. Today's artificial eyes or implants move almost normally and are virtually indistinguishable from natural eyes, although, of course, they do not see.

References:

1. http://advicemedic.blogspot.com/2009/05/eye-tumor-symptoms.html
2. http://www.eyecancer.com/
3. http://www.etrf.org/
4. http://eyecancerinfo.com/
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_oncology

Regards,

Team Infinity