National Eye Love Day: Focus on eye melanoma with high malignancy and high metastasis rate
Xinhua News Agency, Hangzhou, June 6th (Reporter Huang Xiao) June 6th is National Eye Care Day. Fang Meiyu, chief physician of the Department of Rare Diseases and Head and Neck Medicine at the Cancer Hospital Affiliated to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the public is concerned about adolescent myopia, elderly glaucoma, etc. When eye problems are common, eye melanoma with a high degree of malignancy and a high rate of metastasis also needs attention.
It is understood that most malignant melanoma often comes from a mole on the body. Because it is located on the surface of the skin, it is easy to find and attract attention when a mutation occurs. However, the early symptoms of ocular melanoma are transient vision abnormalities and eye irritation, which are easily overlooked by the public. Most patients have liver metastases before they know that the cause is ocular melanoma.
Fang Meiyu introduced that in the early stage of eye melanoma, patients can retain eyeballs and retain certain vision through local surgery or close-range patch radiotherapy, and the prognosis will be better. Unfortunately, most patients find and take treatment late, and eventually only remove the eyeball.
At the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, about a dozen patients with melanoma of the eye are admitted each year, with an average age of over 40 years old. Some of them are undergoing adjuvant treatment after eyeball removal, and about half of them are after eyeball removal. There has been a relapse.
"The scary thing about eye melanoma is that even if the patient has removed the eyeball, there is still a 50% chance of recurrence. And a major feature of malignant melanoma is that it is prone to metastasis." Fang Meiyu mentioned that it occurred in different parts The parts of melanoma that are prone to metastasis are also different. The ones that grow on the skin are more likely to be transferred to the brain and lungs, while the most prone to metastasis of ocular melanoma is the liver.
Experts said that the cause of eye melanoma is mainly caused by external strong light stimulation and its own genes, but the cause of individual cases has not been identified. Fang Meiyu reminded that the eyes should not be exposed to strong light as much as possible in daily life. At the same time, the eye examination should not be ignored. "General eye examinations cannot see the fundus. It is recommended to do an ophthalmoscope every three years or so. Check, if any abnormality is found, go to a professional medical institution for treatment as soon as possible."