Cells that will die when they try to divide are considered sterile and incapable of metastasis. Radiation damages both the cancerous and normal tissues.
Complications can occur after radiation therapy for intraocular and orbital tumors.
In general, large tumors require more radiation to kill them as do some tumors which are less radiation sensitive. This patient was treated with proton-beam irradiation. Notice the large conjunctival blood vessels. In contrast, eyelash loss, dilated conjunctival vessels and dry eye are unusual after plaque radiation therapy. This is a intraocular photograph of a patient treated with ophthalmic plaque radiation who later developed, optic nerve neovascularization, intraretinal microangiopathy, chorioretinal atrophy, a ghost vessel, and perivascular sheathing.