{"id":19946,"date":"2021-11-18T12:14:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T12:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=19946"},"modified":"2021-11-18T12:14:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T12:14:21","slug":"treatments-for-ocular-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-conditions\/eye-conditions\/treatments-for-ocular-melanoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Treatments for Ocular Melanoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Ocular melanoma is a rare form of eye cancer, affecting over 5 in a million people each year.\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<h2><b>What is ocular melanoma?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-conditions\/eye-conditions\/ocular-oncology\/\">Ocular melanoma<\/a> is a rare form of cancer that affects the eye. The most common type of ocular melanoma is called uveal melanoma, as it develops in the uvea, the part of the eye that contains the iris, ciliary body and choroid.<\/p>\n<p><b>Ocular melanomas are diagnosed in up to 2,500 people every year in the US.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Most uveal tumors develop from the pigment cells, the melanocytes, within the uvea that give color to the eye.<\/p>\n<p>When eye cancer metastasizes to other parts of the body, there is a 15 percent five-year survival rate. Fortunately, when caught early on, ocular melanoma can be treated.<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is the survival rate for ocular melanoma?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The overall 5-year survival rate for all eye-related melanoma is 82 percent.<\/p>\n<p>When melanoma does not spread outside the eye, the 5-year relative survival rate increases to about 85 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the 5-year survival rate for those when the disease has spread to surrounding tissues or organs or the regional lymph nodes decreases to 71 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Early detection of any cancerous or tumors of the eye is essential to achieving the best results.<\/p>\n<p><b>SEE RELATED: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-conditions\/eye-conditions\/retinal-diseases\/\">Guide to Retinal Diseases<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>If you notice any changes to your eyes or vision,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\"> schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><b>How is ocular melanoma treated?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Ocular melanoma is frequently treated with radiation therapy, surgery or laser therapy. The most effective treatment plan will be dependent on the location, size and stage of the cancer, as well as the rate at which it is progressing.<\/p>\n<h3><b>1) Radiation therapy<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Radiation therapy uses high-energy waves to eliminate cancer cells\u2014 and has been shown effective in preserving vision in those with ocular melanoma.<\/p>\n<p>There are two different methods of radiation therapy:<\/p>\n<p><b>1. External radiation therapy<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Also known as \u2018proton beam radiation\u2019, this therapy involves targeting the tumor with radiation beams from outside the body.<\/p>\n<p>This method reduces the risk of damage to the tissues surrounding the eye.<\/p>\n<p><b>2. Internal radiation therapy<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Also known as \u2018radioactive plaque therapy\u2019 or \u2019brachytherapy\u2019, involves implanting radiation seeds in close proximity to the tumor inside the eye.<\/p>\n<p>To protect the surrounding eye tissues, the radio-active seeds are encased in a metal plaque or disc.<\/p>\n<h3><b>2) Surgery<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Eye cancer surgery involves removing the tumor and a portion of the surrounding healthy tissue.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the size, location and stage of the tumor, the surgeon will remove either the damaged sections of the eye, or the entire eye completely.<\/p>\n<p>There are four different types of surgical procedures:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Iridectomy<\/b> involves removing part of the iris.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Iridocyclectomy <\/b>involves removing part of the iris and the ciliary body.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Irido-trabeculectomy<\/b> involves removing part of the iris and a small piece of the outer part of the eyeball.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Enucleation <\/b>involves removing the eyeball completely.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Removal of the entire eye may be necessary when other treatment methods are not effective in destroying the cancer cells.<\/p>\n<p>When this occurs, an artificial eye, known as a prosthetic eye, is custom-fitted to match the size and color of the remaining eye.<\/p>\n<h3><b>3) Laser therapy<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Laser therapy uses heat generating laser beams to shrink small tumors on the eye.<\/p>\n<p>Laser therapy is generally only recommended in rare cases for the treatment of very small ocular melanomas or to reduce the risk of the cancer returning following radiation.<\/p>\n<p>While half of all patients with ocular melanoma will recover and return to their normal activities with appropriate treatment, the other half may experience a recurrence at some point in the future.<\/p>\n<p><b>LEARN MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-conditions\/eye-conditions\/\">Eye Conditions<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>If you notice any changes to your eyes or vision, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you.\u00a0<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>While ocular melanoma is a rare form of cancer it is treatable. The sooner it is detected, the higher your chances for optimal treatment results.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ocular melanoma is a rare form of eye cancer, affecting over 5 in a million people each year.\u00a0 What is ocular melanoma? Ocular melanoma is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1206,"featured_media":19947,"parent":12466,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19946","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Treatments for Ocular Melanoma - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-conditions\/eye-conditions\/treatments-for-ocular-melanoma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Treatments for Ocular Melanoma - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ocular melanoma is a rare form of eye cancer, affecting over 5 in a million people each year.\u00a0 What is ocular melanoma? 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