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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffYour eye melanoma treatment options will depend on the location and size of the eye melanoma, as well as your overall health and your preferences.
Waiting to treat small eye melanomas
A small eye melanoma that affects the colored portion of the eye (iris) may not require immediate treatment. If the melanoma is small and isn't growing, you and your doctor may choose to wait and watch for signs of growth. If the melanoma grows or causes complications, you may choose to undergo treatment at that time.
Surgery
Operations used to treat eye melanoma include procedures to remove part of the eye or a procedure to remove the entire eye. Options may include:
- Iridectomy. This procedure removes only a part of the iris. It's used for small iris melanomas that have not invaded other structures of your eye.
- Iridotrabeculectomy. This procedure removes parts of the iris and the supporting tissues around the cornea at the base of the iris for small iris melanomas that have invaded those tissues.
- Iridocyclectomy. This is another treatment for small melanomas of the iris and ciliary body. It involves removing part of the iris and the ciliary body.
- Choroidectomy. Part of the choroid is removed during this surgery, with or without removing part of the wall of the eye (sclerouvectomy). This complicated procedure may be followed by supplementary radiation.
- Surgery to remove the entire eye (enucleation). Enucleation is often used for large eye tumors. It may also be used if the tumor is causing eye pain. After the eye with melanoma is removed, an implant is inserted into the same position, and the muscles controlling movement of the eye are attached to the implant, which allows the implant to move. After you've had some time to heal, an artificial eye (prosthesis) is made. The front surface of your new eye will be custom painted to match your existing eye.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as protons or gamma rays, to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy is typically used for small to medium-sized eye melanomas.
The radiation is usually delivered to the tumor by placing a radioactive plaque on your eye, directly over the tumor in a procedure called brachytherapy. The plaque is held in place with temporary stitches. The plaque looks similar to a bottle cap and contains several radioactive seeds. The plaque remains in place for four to five days before it's removed.
The radiation can also come from a machine that directs the radioactive particles to your eye (external beam radiation or teletherapy). This type of radiation therapy is often administered over several days.
Laser treatment
Treatment that uses a laser to kill the melanoma cells may be an option in certain situations, but this treatment isn't widely used. One type of laser treatment, called thermotherapy, uses an infrared laser and is sometimes used in combination with radiation therapy.
Cold treatments
Extreme cold (cryotherapy) may be used to destroy melanoma cells in some small eye melanomas, but this treatment isn't commonly used.
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- How is eye cancer diagnosed? American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_4_3x_how_is_eye_cancer_diagnosed_74.asp. Accessed May 24, 2010.
- Surgery. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_4X_Surgery_74.asp?rnav=cri. Accessed May 24, 2010.
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