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Ocular/Orbital Cancer

Ocular and Orbital Cancer begins in one of three places, the eyeball, the orbit (the tissues surrounding the eyeball), or the adnexal (accessory) structures such as the eyelids and tear glands. These cancers can broken into two key areas Intraocular (in the eye) and Orbital/Adnexal (outside of the eye). The two most common intraocular cancers are Melanoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Intraocular Melanoma is the more common of the two, but is still fairly rare. For orbital/adnexal cancers, these are developed from tissues such as muscle, nerve, and skin around the eyeball and are like cancers in other parts of the body.

The American Cancer Society projects 3,360 people in the United States will be diagnosed with an ocular or orbital cancer in 2019. Some of the risk factors include: Race/ethnicity (the risk of melanoma is much higher in whites than any other ethnicity), Eye Color (light colored eyes are somewhat more likely to develop these cancers), Age and Gender (Eye melanoma risk increases with age, and cases of eye melanoma are more likely in men than women), Moles, and Family History.

How Our Team Treats Ocular/Orbital Cancer

At the Radiation Oncology Services at Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC), we treat ocular/orbital cancer painlessly and noninvasively with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). EBRT is an effective treatment forocular/orbital cancer, working within cancer cells to limit their ability to multiply. During treatment, high-energy X-rays are delivered to the cancer with a linear accelerator (LINAC). The treatment process is painless, safe and treatments take about 10 to 15 minutes. Side effects are usually minimal, and most patients return to routine activities immediately after each treatment.

Radiation Oncology Services at CAMC’s Advantage

  • Few to no side effects
  • Noninvasive
  • Outpatient procedure lasting 10-15 minutes daily
  • Minimal to no recovery time
  • Return to your normal activities following treatment

Speak with one of our dedicated Team Members about how we can help today.