Contents:
- Medical Video: 12 Scary Things Your Eyes Say About Your Health
- Retinoblastoma, eye cancer that often attacks children
- Eye melanoma, the most common type of eye cancer in adult patients
Medical Video: 12 Scary Things Your Eyes Say About Your Health
Cancer is the growth of body cells that are out of control. Every organ and part of the human body is made of cells, so cancer can occur anywhere. Yes! Included in the eyes. Judging deeper, it turns out there are many types of cancer that can attack the eye. But of all, there are two types of eye cancer that are the most common compared to others. One of them is more common in children, while one more is found in adults. What are the two types of eye cancer?
Retinoblastoma, eye cancer that often attacks children
Retinoblastoma is an eye cancer that specifically attacks the retina (the eye layer that captures light). Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children younger than 4 years.
Retinoblastoma eye cancer is caused by a genetic disorder.
Symptoms of retinoblastoma in children
The eyes of a child suffering from retinoblastoma generally will be white like a cat's eye when exposed to flashlight. This is easily distinguished from normal eyes, because in normal eyes the flash will produce reddish reflections.
Some cases of retinoblastoma can also cause squinting.
What checks need to be done?
- Funduscopy. An examination is performed by an ophthalmologist to see the condition of the retina.
- Ultrasonography (USG). Examination aims to determine the size of cancer cells and also to see the presence or absence of pull on the retina.
- MRI to detect the spread of cancer and if so, to what extent. The presence or absence of spread (metastasis) will then determine the type of cancer treatment to be given and also the prognosis of the patient.
What kind of treatment will the child undergo?
Broadly speaking there are two types of eye cancer treatment that can be done separately or continuously, depending on the condition when the cancer is found. Both types of treatment are chemotherapy and surgical removal of the eyeball.
Eye melanoma, the most common type of eye cancer in adult patients
As with retinoblastoma, eye melanoma is the type of eye cancer that most often attacks adults. Eye melanoma can attack various areas of the eye, such as the eyelids and iris (dark circles on the eyeball). However, the choroid region (the layer in the deep eyeball that contains the most blood vessels) is the area most frequently affected by eye melanoma.
Eye melanoma is generally triggered by long-term radiation from the sun. In addition, the eyes that have brightly colored irises, as in the eyes of white people who are green or blue, are the most vulnerable to melanoma.
What are the symptoms and signs?
Most of the eye's melanoma attacks the choroid layer which is located inside the eyeball. Therefore, eye melanoma generally does not produce typical symptoms that can be seen from the outside with the naked eye.
Symptoms in the form of visual disturbances will also only be felt if the tumor size is large enough and begins to spread to the field of vision.
Examination and treatment that can be done for eye melanoma
Not much different from examining retinoblastoma, examination of melanoma eye cancer will include fundoscopic examination, ultrasound, and also MRI.
Treatment is based on size, location, and also the spread of cancer cells. Some methods that can be used are removal of cancer cells only, radiotherapy, or removal of the entire eyeball.
