Melanoma of the eye

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Retina

Melanoma of the eye

Definition:

Melanoma is a cancerous tumor that can occur in various structures in the eye, such as the choroid, the iris, or the ciliary body. The choroid layer is the most likely location of melanoma in the eye.

Alternative Names:
Malignant melanoma - choroid; Malignant melanoma - eye; Eye tumor; Ocular melanoma
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

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Melanoma is a very aggressive type of cancer that can spread rapidly. In the US, it occurs in about 6 people per million per year. Excessive exposure to sunlight is an important risk factor and the occurrence of melanoma has greatly increased in recent decades. Fair-skinned and blue-eyed people are affected most often.

The eye can be the primary site of the tumor, or the cancer may have spread to the eye from another location in the body. There may be no early symptoms, but the tumor will eventually cause a retinal detachment and distortion of vision.

Melanoma is the most common type of eye tumor in adults. Even so, primary melanoma of the eye is rare.