Treatment OF OM

OM is particularly complex because you have a primary tumor to deal with in the eye - a relatively self-contained site - and in nearly half of cases, metastatic disease as well. Generally, when the tumor spreads, it spreads to the liver (~90% of the time) because it is spreading via your blood stream, but with conjunctival melanoma (just like with cutaenous) the spread is via the lymphatic system and overall the disease can look quite different. Couple these facts with the rare nature of the disease and a lack of understanding about both genesis and propagation, and no known cure for metastatic OM today, and it's no surprise that thinking about treating OM can be quite challenging for both patient and doctor.

But while OM represents a challenge for ophthalmologists and oncologists in terms of early diagnosis, genetic characterization, and treatment, in recent decades, considerable advances have been made in the diagnosis and classification of patients at low/high-risk of metastatic progression, thereby facilitating early and tailored intervention.

We've divided this Treatment section into categories that will hopefully provide a clear guide for you to familiarize yourself with some of the more common treatments for both primary OM and metastatic disease. Ultimately, though, every case is unique and no web research can take the place of open dialogue with both ophthalmologists and ocular oncologists experienced with OM.