The main treatments for eye cancer are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. But you may have other treatments that your eye specialist will discuss with you. Your treatment will depend on:
- the type of eye cancer you have and where it is in the eye
- the size of your cancer and how far it has grown or spread (the stage)
- your general health and level of fitness
As with many types of cancer, the earlier your cancer is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat and possibly cure it. When planning your treatment your doctors will try their hardest to save as much of your sight as they can.
There are different types of eye cancer, depending on the type of cell the cancer starts in. For example, melanoma of the eye and lymphoma of the eye.
Melanoma of the eyeball
Treatment for eye melanoma is usually surgery or radiotherapy, or both.
Whether you have surgery or radiotherapy depends on:
- where the cancer is
- the size of the cancer
- how much it is affecting your sight
If the cancer is large or already stopping you from seeing out of the eye, you will probably have surgery to remove the eye. This operation is called an enucleation. Otherwise your doctor might recommend that you have one of the following:
- radiotherapy
- an operation to just remove the cancer (but not the eye)
- laser treatment
Ask your doctor as many questions as you need to. Together you can decide which treatment is best for you.
It can come as quite a shock if you need to have surgery to remove your eye. You will need time to come to terms with this change. As long as you have sight in one eye, it may not make much difference to what you can and can’t do. You may still be able to drive, for instance.
It may help to know that many people who have had this surgery rate their quality of life as highly as people who have kept their eye.
Melanoma of the iris
This type of cancer can be so slow growing that you don’t always need treatment, especially if you don’t have symptoms. Your doctor will give you regular check ups to make sure the cancer is not getting bigger.
If the cancer grows, or if it is causing symptoms, you may have one of the following:
- removal of the melanoma
- removal of the whole eye (an enucleation)
- radiotherapy
Choroid or ciliary body melanoma
If melanoma of the choroid or ciliary body is not getting bigger you may not need treatment straight away. You will have regular check ups to make sure the tumour has not started to grow. This is sometimes called periodic observation.
If you do need treatment you might have one of the following:
- radiotherapy
- photocoagulation
- transpupillary thermotherapy
- photodynamic therapy
- surgery to remove just the cancer
- surgery to remove the whole eye (enucleation)
Photocoagulation, transpupillary thermography and photodynamic therapy are all types of laser therapy. They use a source of heat or light to destroy the cancer cells.
Your eye specialist will discuss the treatment choices with you. This usually depends on the size of the cancer.