Ocular tumours are rare; however, they are the only ocular disease that can lead to mortality. Among the intraocular tumours, uveal melanoma is the most common tumour among Caucasians. In spite of a high success rate in treating the primary melanoma of the eye, mortality is still high and reaches 30–50 % in 15 years.
Ocular tumours are rare; however, they are the only ocular disease that can lead to mortality. Among the intraocular tumours, uveal melanoma is the most common tumour among Caucasians. In spite of a high success rate in treating the primary melanoma of the eye, mortality is still high and reaches 30–50 % in 15 years.
Many of the uveal melanomas, as well as other intraocular malignancies, are diagnosed after a certain delay. This occurs because of a lack of awareness among some ophthalmologists, lack of knowledge of how such tumours present themselves, incomplete ocular examination and, often, because of negligence on the part of the patient themselves.
The diagnosis of uveal melanoma and most of the other intraocular tumours is based on clinical examination and imaging, mainly ocular ultrasound. Unlike other malignancies, the diagnosis of these tumours is not made via biopsy and histopathological examination. The treatment of these tumours is based on the clinical diagnosis. Therefore, knowledge of the imaging techniques of intraocular tumours in general, and uveal melanoma in particular, is very important.
Dr Arun Singh, one of the leading ocular oncologists, writes in this issue of European Ophthalmic Review a review on imaging modalities for uveal melanoma. I hope that this is only one of many articles that will be published in this journal on various subjects in ocular oncology, a small but very important subspecialty in ophthalmology. ■
