What is Eye Cancer? What are the symptoms?

Eye cancer is a type of cancer that occurs when cells in the eye divide and spread out of control. The vital cycle that creates the controlled division and proliferation of cells is controlled by DNA. Cells controlled by DNA grow and multiply, and when they achieve sufficient development, they stop growing and multiplying. Cancerous cells go out of control and grow, multiply and spread abnormally.

What is Eye Cancer?

Eye cancer occurs when cells in the eye proliferate uncontrollably and spread. There are different types of eye cancer depending on the region where the cells multiply and spread.

What Causes Eye Cancer?

Improper nutrition and poor hygiene habits, genetic factors, weak immune system and some hereditary diseases cause eye cancer.

Eye Cancer Symptoms

Eye cancer can progress without symptoms in the first stage. Additionally, symptoms vary depending on the location of the cancer. Some of the symptoms of eye cancer are as follows:

• Seeing flashes or dust spots in your vision
• A growing black spot on the iris
• A dark circle in the center of the eye A change in the shape of the pupil
• Weak or blurred vision in one eye
• Peripheral (peripheral) vision loss
• Eye redness, pain and swelling on the surface of the eye
• >
• Hypersensitivity to light
• Feeling like there is an object in the eye
• Subsequent strabismus

Is Eye Cancer Fatal?

Eye cancer is a type of cancer that can be life-threatening if left untreated, as a result of the effects of the cancer or its spread to other cells.

How Is Eye Cancer Diagnosed?

Depending on the complaints in the eye, it is requested that some tests be performed as a result of the detailed history taken and examination performed by the doctor. According to the results of the examination, a diagnosis of cancer is made. The examination performed by the doctor according to the eye complaint includes the following:

• Checking the field of vision
• Evaluating the movements of the eye
• Examining the inside of the eye with an ophthalmoscope

If eye cancer is suspected as a result of the initial examination, detailed examinations may be requested to examine the eye and surrounding tissues. The examinations performed to diagnose eye cancer are as follows:

• Eye Test: With the help of specially designed instruments for eye examination, it is examined whether there are findings indicating an intraocular tumor. Using a method called Ophthalmoscopy, the presence of findings that may indicate a tumor inside or outside the eye is examined. Encountering dilated blood vessels in this process is a risk factor for cancer. Another method, called slit lamp biomicroscopy, uses a microscope with lenses that illuminate the inside of the eye and create intense light. With this microscope, the front part of the eye is examined in detail.
• Eye Ultrasound: It is a method that uses sound waves to obtain images formed in the eye. It is examined whether there is any tumor with the help of ultrasound.
• Angiography: The purpose of the procedure is to visualize the blood vessels around the tumor causing eye cancer. The procedure begins by injecting a colored dye into the body through a vein. The injected colored dye goes to the blood vessels in the eye. Angiography detects abnormal growths in blood vessels and other conditions affecting the eye.
• Optical Coherence Tomography: In this imaging test, real-time, cross-sectional images of the retina are obtained. The presence of tumor is examined in the images obtained.
• Removing and Testing the Suspicious Tissue Sample: In some cases, as a result of the examinations, a tissue sample (biopsy) is taken from the eye and examined whether the tissue contains tumor.

What are the Types of Eye Cancer?

The types of cancer that occur depending on the location of the cancerous cell in the eye are as follows:

• Intraocular Melanoma: Eye melanoma most commonly develops in the cells in the middle layer of your eye (uvea). Eye melanoma can occur in the iris, choroid layer and ciliary body in the uvea.

Although rare, melanoma can also occur in the conjunctiva and eyelid.

• Retinoblastoma: Retinoblastoma is an eye cancer that starts in the retina, the delicate lining inside the eye. Retinoblastoma most commonly affects young children, but it can also occur rarely in adults. The retina, made up of nerve tissue, is the part of the eye that detects light. The retina sends signals to the brain via the optic nerve, where these signals are interpreted as images. Retinoblastoma, a rare type of eye cancer, is the most common type of cancer affecting the eye in children. Retinoblastoma can occur in both eyes at the same time or in only one eye.

How Is Eye Cancer Treated?

There are different treatment options for eye cancer depending on the location and size of the tumor. Treatments for eye cancer are as follows:

• Radiation Therapy: Radiation therapy, used in the treatment of advanced eye melanomas, is a treatment method that uses high-frequency rays to kill tumor cells. When applying radiation, the steps of the brachytherapy treatment method are generally applied. Treatment by placing a plate in the eye may take a few days, depending on the course of the disease.
• Laser Treatment: In some cases, laser treatment is applied to kill cancer cells. Laser treatment, called thermotherapy, can also be used in addition to radiation therapy.
• Photodynamic Therapy: In this treatment method, the drugs used are combined with a special wavelength of light. The drugs used make cancer cells vulnerable to light. With the treatment, cancerous structures are destroyed by damaging cancerous vessels and cells.
• Cold Treatment: Although it is not very common, extreme cold (cryotherapy) is used to destroy cancer cells in some eye cancers that have not progressed.
• Surgery: Surgical methods are recommended to treat eye cancer, depending on the stage of the cancer. It is decided to perform the procedure by removing the part or all of the eye affected by cancer. At this point, which procedure will be applied depends on the size and location of the tumor in the eye. Procedures for treatment are as follows:

• Surgery to Remove Cancerous Tissue Area: Surgery may be performed to remove the tumor and a group of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. It is mostly used in the treatment of non-advanced cancers.
• Surgery to Remove the Entire Eye (Enucleation): This method is generally preferred in advanced eye tumors. In advanced stages, the tumor causes pain in the eye.

The eye containing the tumor is removed and an implant is placed instead. The movement of the implant is ensured by providing a connection between the muscles responsible for the movement of the eye and the implant. After waiting for a while for the structure to heal, an artificial eye (prosthesis) is made.

Eye diseases can cause eye cancer if not treated with the right treatment methods. As a result of detailed eye examinations, the presence of cancer is detected. Malignant tumors that cause eye cancer may spread to different regions. The area around the eyes, the eyelids and the inside of the eye are common tumor areas.

If you have any eye complaints, you can protect your eye health by consulting a doctor and performing planned examinations.