Radiation treatment is given in an effort to prevent the cancer from spreading.
The NEI study, the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study, looked at about 2,000 patients in 42 clinical centers around the country, including patients at Schepens Retina Associates, a clinical practice affiliated with The Schepens Eye Research Institute. Results show that radiation treatments prior to removing the eye failed to prevent spread of the disease and eventual death that is, patients had similar five-year survival rates regardless of whether they were treated with radiation. Ksander and his colleagues are working on one approach to provide protection to these patients. Ksander's group has identified killer lymphocytes that identify and kill only the tumor cells, offering hope that a future treatment may confer some protection from spread of the deadly disease. Clement L. Trempe, M.D., senior member of Schepens Retina Associates and a Clinical Senior Scientist at The Schepens Eye Research Institute, said that treatment for large ocular tumors had included radiation first and then enucleation.