Eye cancer: Causes and prevention

It’s probably the last point of the body that you would think as a position in which it may appear cancer, but the truth is…
that the eyes are not immune to the most dreaded disease of man.
If and cancers within the eye are rare, cancers of the eyelids are very common, with their frequency increasing proportionally with age.
It is estimated that in the general population, one out of 50,000 (approximately 200-250 people per year in our country) displays some form of cancer of the eye, while almost one in ten expressing carcinomas of the eyelids which constitute 5%-10% of cases of skin cancer, says surgeon-ophthalmologist, dr. Anastasios John Kanellopoulos, professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at New York University.
The most common cancer of the eyelid is the basal cell carcinoma, which can develop around the eye and inside the eye orbit, but rarely spreads to other parts of the body.
Other cancers of the eyelids is squamous cell carcinoma, sebaceous gland carcinoma and melanoma is the most aggressive of all.
In the interior of the eye, the most common cancer is ocular melanoma that may develop at various points, such as the iris.
It is estimated that about 4,000 to 5,000 Europeans are learning each year that suffer from ocular melanoma, which if detected in time has high rates of healing (almost 80% in the first stage of the disease, according to the American Cancer society – ACS).
In children, the most common ocular cancer is retinoblastoma that usually occurs at ages under 5 years, but when detected in time has rates of healing of almost 95%, by dr Kanellopoulos.
It is estimated that a child at 19.000 displays retinoblastoma, which accounts for 10% of cancer cases in infants aged up to 1 year. In 60% of cases, the retinoblastoma develops in one eye, while the rest in both.
Risk factors
Although the causes of cancer of the eye are not known, there are some risk factors for some of the forms, says dr. Kanellopoulos.
Ocular melanoma.
It is most common in people with light coloured eyes, and to those who have a lot of moles (moles) on the skin, and possibly those exposed to the sun.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelid.
It is most common in people with a weakened immune system, especially if they have a history of significant sun exposure.
Basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid.
It is most common in individuals with significant exposure to solar radiation.
Lymphoma of the eye. It is most common in people with a weakened immune system.
Retinoblastoma. In the 40%-45% of cases is due to a hereditary defective gene, and may therefore offend a lot of people from the same family.
Prevention
Because prevention and early diagnosis is the best treatment, the first step of protection is the regular ophthalmologic examination, which ideally should be done every 1-2 years after 45 years of age, unless there is a medical reason for more early and more often, says dr. Kanellopoulos.
It is necessary even the use of sunglasses, from infancy age, as well as regular (once a year) monitoring by an ophthalmologist for any nevus (olive) on the eyelid.
Especially for infants and toddlers, a zoomed photo of their eyes with the smartphone and with a flash you could discover in a timely manner of any retinoblastoma (if you have λευκοκορία, i.e. the pupil of the eye looks like it has a white tinge instead of black, it may be due to the disease, according to the experts).
If, finally, no one noticed a dark spot on the colored part of the eye (the iris) should be addressed for review to a doctor, especially if you increase the size of, concludes dr. Kanellopoulos.
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