Ocular Oncology Basics: Diagnosis of Intraocular Malignancies
“Declare the past, diagnose the present, foretell the future.” Hippocrates In this section, I will deal with various diagnostic methods which are common in practice for the diagnosis of mainly Intraocular malignancies. Diagnostic modalities used for extraocular malignancies will be considered in the respective chapters. 1.History Even though the twenty-first century has seen a boom in the diagnost...Read More
Ocular Oncology Basics: Salient Points from The Pandora's Box
RETINOBLASTOMA Grouping: Clinical determination of the extent of disease with the focus being the eye. It is a preoperative evaluation with the main outcome being the salvagable status of vision or the eye. Staging: It combines clinical, various imaging, and post-operative histopathological results to determine the extent of the disease. The main outcome is focused on the survival of the patient. ...Read More
Ocular Oncology Basics: Genetics
Twenty first century has seen a giant leap in the understanding of human genetics. Based on the human genome project humans are supposed to have roughly 20,000 to 25,000 genes. Genes are the fundamental units of heredity. To understand genetics involved in various ocular pathologies a basic understanding is essential. The following discussion will provide an overview of basic concepts in genetics ...Read More
Ocular Oncology Basics: Treatment Strategies In Intraocular Malignancies
“Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul.” Jim Valvano Treating malignancies I believe, brings the true human spirit forward of the treating physician. Breaking the news of malignancy to a patient is as heartbreaking for the physician as it is for the patient. Yet the doctor must keep his feelings aside and d...Read More
Introduction Intraocular lymphoma, a great non-infective masquerader occurs intraocularly in either the vitreoretinal( primary vitreoretinal lymphoma PVRL)) or in the uveal space( primary choroidal, iris lymphoma). By definition, PVRL denotes the presence of pathology limited to vitreoretinal space without its occurrence in the central nervous system. The term ‘primary’ is however controversial as...Read More
Choroidal Melanoma: Ready Reckoner for the Postgraduates
Introduction Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignant tumor in adults [1]. Second most common type of primary malignant melanoma after cutaneous melanoma. It arises from neuroectodermal melanocytes within the uveal tissue. Epidemiology There is strong racial variation in the incidence, with the white population most commonly affected. The mean age-adjusted incidence of uveal...Read More
Retinoblastoma : Top Ten Tenets for an Ophthalmologist
1.Common and Curable Retinoblastoma is the most common childhood ocular malignancy. Annually there are about 6000 new cases worldwide. It is most commonly diagnosed at 15-18 months of age although in developing countries, older children also present with the disease. It is potentially curable if detected early and with proper management. Currently, the survival rate is as high as 95% with 90% eye ...Read More
Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia
A. Introduction There have been multiple refinements in the terminology of the epithelial squamous neoplasia until the introduction of the term “Ocular surface squamous neoplasia” (OSSN) by Lee and Hirst in 19951. OSSN is an umbrella term and refers to a spectrum ranging from mild/moderate/severe dysplasia to carcinoma in situ to invasive squamous cell carcinoma involving the conjunctiva and/or co...Read More
Retinablastoma:The current concepts
Introduction Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular malignancy in children, with a reported incidence ranging from 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 18,000 live births.1 It is second only to uveal melanoma in the frequency of occurrence of malignant intraocular tumors. There is no racial or gender predisposition in the incidence of retinoblastoma. Retinoblastoma is bilateral in about 25 to 35% of cases. ...Read More