UVEAL MELANOMA DETECTION & PREVENTION
A person with uveal melanoma may have no symptoms and the tumour can be discovered during routine eye exam, or it may produce some symptoms.
For a person experiencing symptoms, these may include:
- Vision change (e.g. blurred vision, flashing lights, unexpected seeing of shadows, seeing foating spots, loss of peripheral vision
- Eye pain
- Eye redness
These symptoms are similar to many other eye conditions, such as cataracts and glaucoma, and are NOT specifc to uveal melanoma. Ophthalmic examination should be carried out by a specialist to diagnose or rule out the presence of melanoma. A person with melanoma in the iris may notice changes in the iris as presence of a growth, or changes in iris colour and changes in the size and shape of the pupil.
Risk Factors
Unlike skin melanoma, which is often closely linked to UV radiation damage from the sun or other sources, there is no hard evidence to support causal relationship. However, there are factors that were linked to increased risk for uveal melanoma. These include:
- UV Exposure to natural sunlight or artificial sunlight (such as from tanning beds) over long periods of time;
- Light eye colour, such as blue or green eyes
- Fair skin colour
- Older Population. The median age at diagnosis is 55 years old
Prevention
- Wear close fitting/wraparound sunglasses with UV 400 or 100% UV protection
- Wear sunglasses any time you are in highly reflective environments, such as on snow, water or sand