Eye Test & Diagnosis of Eye Cancer


With any type of cancer, early diagnosis is always going to result in more positive outcomes because treatment can be less invasive and is likely to be more effective. When dealing with something as important as vision, fast action seems even more important. Unfortunately, eye cancer is so rare that no widespread screenings are done to catch the disease at an early stage. Generally, if you are at high risk or notice changes in your vision, you need to take responsibility for consulting a medical professional for diagnosis instead of delaying.

Since pain is rarely associated with eye cancer, you should pay attention to changes in your vision, including blurring, decreased peripheral vision, partial blockages of vision, and the presence of floaters. Eye watering and bulging can also be signs of eye cancer. Making an appointment with your GP or ophthalmologist should be the first step.

An ophthalmologist often uses one or two main methods to evaluate a patient’s eye problems. First, he or she will use ophthalmoscopy just as if you were receiving an ordinary examination. If that does not provide results, he or she may use slit-lamp biomicropscopy. With this method, a bright light is shone directly into the eye to illuminate its interior so the ophthalmologist can see a tumour, if one is present.

While these methods normally work to find the cause of the eye problem, other tests may be needed in some cases. An ultrasound, for example, can be used to find tumours not visible through the other means. With ultrasound, the sound waves hit the tumour and bounce back faster than the other waves. Then the waves are translated into an image of the tumour for the doctor. If the doctor knows a tumour is present in the patient’s eye but he or she needs to get a better look or more information, angiography may be used. With this procedure, a green or yellow dye is injected into the patient’s body. The dye enters the eye and a small camera can take photos illustrating the movement of the dye through the eye allowing the doctor to see the tumour more clearly.

With some types of eye cancer, such as those types affecting the optic nerves or the eye muscles, CT scans and MRIs may be used to locate and get a clear image of the tumour in question.

Steps Following Identification of a Tumour:

While discovering the tumour is important, the eye doctor still needs to determine if the tumour is benign or malignant. The latter are the ones patients need to be concerned about because they are cancerous. The others do not pose a health concern unless they are interfering with your vision.

To decide if a tumour is benign or malignant, a biopsy needs to be done. That means the physician removes a small portion of the tumour so it can be examined closely under a microscope in a lab setting. Treatment options will be determined once the doctor is able to determine the severity of the condition, as well as the type of cancer present in the body.

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