Your doctor or optometrist may check you for ocular melanoma or send you to an ophthalmologist, who also treats eye problems.
Learn more about:
Tests
Tests you may have include:
| Ophthalmoscopy (fundoscopy) and slit lamp exam | These tests help doctors see inside your eye. A slit lamp is a microscope with a bright light that looks at the front section of the eye. Eye drops may be used to make your pupil bigger so it’s easier to look inside your eye. The drops can cause blurry vision or light sensitivity for a few hours, so take sunglasses to your test. You’ll need to wait until your eyesight returns to normal before driving. |
| Colour fundus photography and ultra-wide-field fundus photography | These photography machines take detailed photos of large areas of the back of your eye (called the fundus). Drops may be used to widen (dilate) your pupil before the camera takes pictures. This test may be compared to previous imaging and used to help track changes before and after treatment. |
| Ultrasound | This scan uses sound waves to create pictures of the inside of the eye. It uses a small probe with ultrasound gel that is placed on the eye or eyelid and gently moved over the area. It can measure the size and shape of the tumour. |
| OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scan | This test uses light to create pictures of the retina, uvea and blood vessels. A rest for your chin and forehead helps to move you into position for the scans, which take a few minutes. The machine does not touch your eye. |
| Transillumination | This test may be done before surgery to show exactly where the melanoma is. The lights in the room are dimmed and a very bright light is shone into your eye to look for abnormal areas. |
| Angiogram of the eye | This may be done at an eye hospital or by a specialist ophthalmologist in the eye clinic. Drops are put into the eye and a dye is injected into a vein in your arm. The doctor then photographs the back of the eye to check the blood flow (circulation). |
| Biopsy | This removes a small sample of tissue with a needle to check for cancer cells. You will have either a local or general anaesthetic so you don’t feel any pain. Doctors usually diagnose ocular melanoma using imaging tests, but a biopsy is sometimes also needed. Genetic tests may be done on a biopsy sample to find out the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body. The cancer may be classified as low, intermediate or high risk. |
| CT (computerised tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans | These scans are used to check the rest of the body for signs of cancer. You lie on a table that slides into a scanner. Sometimes a dye is injected into a vein in your arm to make the images clearer. |
Staging
This is the process of finding out how far the cancer has spread within the eye, and if it has travelled to other parts of the body such as the liver, lungs, lymph nodes or bones.
Early eye melanoma means that the cancer has not spread beyond the eye. If eye melanoma spreads to other parts of the body, it is called advanced or metastatic melanoma.
→ READ MORE: Treating eye melanoma
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Dr Li-Anne Lim, Ocular Oncologist, Sydney Eye Hospital, NSW; Carolyn Alkemade, Consumer; Elaine Cook, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council Victoria, VIC; Peta Holly, Melanoma Telehealth Nurse, Melanoma Patients Australia; Dr Jon Lam, Ophthalmologist, Vitreoretinal Surgeon and Vitreoretinal Oncologist – Perth Retina, Fremantle Hospital and Royal Perth Hospital, WA; Dr John McKenzie, Ophthalmic Surgeon, Head of Oncology, The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Deputy Director of Ophthalmology, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Head of Ophthalmology, Western Health, VIC; Margie Reynolds, Consumer; Dr Wenchang Wong, Radiation Oncologist, Prince of Wales Hospital, NSW.
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