Little-known eye cancer symptom many people think is normal

The NHS has shared a sign of cancer that you may notice in your eyes. According to the health experts, there are eight signs you need to know about as you may brush some of it off as normal.

On its website, the NHS notes: “Around 850 cases of eye cancer (ocular cancer) are diagnosed in the UK each year.” There are also 4 different types of cancer that affect the eyes, including:

1. Eye melanoma
2. Squamous cell carcinoma
3. Lymphoma
4. Retinoblastoma – a childhood cancer

With this in mind, the experts warn that cancer may also form in the tissues around the eyeball or spread to the eye from other areas of the body, such as the lungs or breasts. So it’s important to know the signs.

What are the symptoms of eye cancer?

Eye cancer does not always cause obvious symptoms and may only be picked up during a routine eye test. For example, “eye irritation that is not going away” is a sign, but many may brush it off as normal and put it down to debris in the eye.

Symptoms of eye cancer can include:

1. shadows, flashes of light, or wiggly lines in your vision
2. blurred vision
3. a dark patch in your eye that’s getting bigger
4. partial or total loss of vision
5. bulging of 1 eye
6. a lump on your eyelid or in your eye that’s increasing in size
7. eye irritation that is not going away
8. pain in or around your eye, although this is rare

The NHS says: “These symptoms can also be caused by more minor eye conditions, so they’re not necessarily a sign of cancer. But it’s important to get the symptoms checked by a doctor as soon as possible.”

What is Melanoma of the eye?

Melanoma is a type of cancer that develops from pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Most melanomas occur in the skin, but they can also develop in other parts of the body, including the eye. Eye melanoma most often affects the eyeball. Depending on the exact area involved, doctors may refer to it as uveal or choroidal melanoma. It can also develop in the conjunctiva (the thin layer covering the front of the eye) or in the eyelid.

What causes eye melanoma?

Eye melanoma develops when the pigment-producing cells in the eye grow and divide too quickly. This leads to the formation of a mass of tissue called a tumour.

It’s not clear exactly why this occurs, but the following factors may increase the risk of it happening:

• lighter eye colour – if you have blue, grey or green eyes, you have a higher risk of developing eye melanoma compared with people who have brown eyes
• white or pale skin – eye melanoma mostly affects white people and is more common in those with fair skin
• unusual moles – if you have irregularly shaped or unusually coloured moles, you’re more at risk of developing melanoma skin cancer and eye melanoma
• use of sunbeds – there’s some evidence to suggest that exposing yourself to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunbeds, for example, can increase your risk of eye melanoma
• overexposure to sunlight – this increases your risk of skin cancer, and may also be a risk factor for eye melanoma

“The risk of developing eye melanoma also increases with age, with most cases being diagnosed in people in their 50s”, the NHS says.

How is eye cancer diagnosed?

If your GP or optician thinks you may have a serious eye condition, they will refer you to a specialist eye doctor, known as an ophthalmologist, for further assessment. If melanoma of the eye is suspected, you will be referred to a specialist eye cancer centre for more detailed tests and care.

There are 4 centres in the UK:

• London
• Sheffield
• Liverpool
• Glasgow

It’s likely you’ll have a number of different tests at the centre, including:

• an eye examination – to look at the structures of your eyes in more detail and check for abnormalities
• an ultrasound scan of your eye – a small probe placed over your closed eye uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the inside of your eye; this allows your doctor to find out more about the position of the tumour and its size
• a fluorescein angiogram – where photographs of the suspected cancer are taken using a special camera after dye has been injected into your bloodstream to highlight the tumour

In some cases, a thin needle may be used to take a small sample of tumour cells. Your doctor may call this a biopsy. The genetic material in these cells is then analysed to help estimate the likelihood of the cancer spreading or returning.

What is the treatment for eye melanoma?

The main treatments for eye melanoma are:

• brachytherapy – tiny plates lined with radioactive material called plaques are inserted near the tumour and left in place for up to a week to kill the cancerous cells
• external radiotherapy – a machine is used to carefully aim beams of radiation at the tumour to kill the cancerous cells
• surgery to remove the tumour or part of the eye – this may be possible if the tumour is small and you still have some vision in your eye
• removal of the eye (enucleation) – this may be necessary if the tumour is large or you have lost your vision; the eye will eventually be replaced with an artificial eye that matches your other eye
• immunotherapy – medicine to help your immune system kill cancer, which you may have if you have a certain type of eye melanoma, or if the cancer has spread to other parts of your body

According to the NHS, chemotherapy is rarely used for eye melanoma. However, it “may be suitable for other types of eye cancer.”

How can I prepare for my GP appointment?

As listed by Cancer Research UK, there are some things you may want to remember before heading into your GP appointment. It suggests:

• Write down your symptoms, including when they started, when they happen and how often you have them.