Eye melanoma or ocular melanoma is the most common type of eye cancer seen in the patients. In this type of cancer, the cells develop in the uvea. Uvea is a thin layer that lies between the retina and the white of the eye. Melanoma cancer mostly affects the skin but sometimes it can occur in the eyes as well.In case of eye melanoma, the cancer affects the pigment cells that give the color to the eyes. Therefore, one can see changes in the eye color in the patients of eye melanoma. If the cancer cells first develop in the eye, then this condition is called primary eye cancer and if the cancer cells develop in some other part of the body and then reach the eye, then it is called secondary eye cancer. It most cases of eye melanoma cancer, patients have secondary cancer. In the light of the above, 3MEDS, the best cancer medicines supplier in Delhi, intends to discuss some of the risk factor that determine whether a person will have eye melanoma, its symptoms and the treatment methods used to treat it.
The doctors do not really know what causes eye melanoma cancer but it is understood to be due to some genetic changes that occur. However, the doctors are still unclear about why these genetic changes take place and why they cause cancer cells to develop. There are some factors that can increase the chances of the occurrence of such genetic changes. Some of such factors are:
1. Eye Color: People with green or blue eyes are at a higher risk of developing eye melanoma cancer than people who have brown eyes.
2. UV light: Exposure to UV light can increase the risk of cancer developing on the surface of the eyes. This is called conjunctival melanoma.
3. Age: Eye melanoma cancer is more common in elders. The risk of eye melanoma increases as we grow up.
4. Inherited Skin Disorder: Inherited skin disorders like dysplastic nevus syndrome can also increase the risk of eye melanoma cancer. The syndrome causes abnormal moles which can cause skin and eye melanoma.
5. Ethnicity: White people are at a higher risk of developing eye melanoma than people of other ethnicities.
People with Eye Melanoma may not see any symptom at all. However they may experience one or more of the following:
1. See dark spots in their field of vision
2. See a dark mark in their iris that may grow in size
3. Displacement of the eye within the socket
4. Flashing lights in the field of vision
5. Watery eyes
6. Blurry vision
7. Loss of peripheral vision in one of the eyes
Pain is not usually a symptom of eye melanoma cancer.
The doctor will perform the following tests and examinations to diagnose eye melanoma cancer:
1. Eye Exam: The doctor will examine the outside and inside the eye for signs of possible tumor.
2. Eye Ultrasound: The doctor may use an instrument called transducer to produce high frequency sound waves to form a digital image of the eye.
3. Angiogram: In this procedure, a dye in injected into the bloodstream of the person and then a specialized camera captures the photo of the eye in which the doctor can see the tumor by how the blood is flowing through it.
4. Optical Coherence Tomography: This procedure lets the doctor create picture of portions of uveal tract and retina.
5. Biopsy: The doctor may remove some suspicious tissue from the eye for laboratory tests to obtain a confirmation on the diagnosis.
In addition to that, the doctor may ask for an x-ray,blood test, CT scan and MRI etc. to check if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
The type of treatment depends upon the location and size of the eye melanoma. The doctor may suggests one or more of the following methods of treatment:
1. Monitoring of the growth rate of the eye melanoma: In case the eye melanoma is small and is not growing, then the doctor may choose to wait and observe its growth. In case the melanoma grows, only then any treatment will be suggested.
2. Radiotherapy: The radiation is delivered to the tumor by using a radioactive plaque on the eye near the tumor. Radio therapy needs several sittings for a complete course.
3. Laser Treatment: A laser may be used to kill the cancer cells in the eye.
4. Photodynamic Therapy: In this treatment, a special drug is used to make the cells sensitive to light and then a laser is used to destroy them.
5. Surgery: The doctor may perform a surgery to remove parts or tissue from the eye that are affected. They doctor may even remove the whole eye. The type of procedure depends upon the extent of the growth of the cancer in the eye.
If eye melanoma cancer is detected and treated early then it can be prevented from spreading to other parts of the body. In such cases, the treatment is more successful than the ones in which the cancer has already spread to the other parts of the body. It is crucial to complete the whole course of the treatment for the best results. You can easily buy prescription cancer medicines online from 3MEDS.
