Eye cancer can be seen in photos, which makes this particular condition stand out from the rest. However, the trick is that it can be easily mistaken for other conditions. Because of this, doctors often can’t diagnose eye cancer until it is advanced.
Eye cancer develops in the eyeball or in the tissues and structures surrounding it. It is a relatively rare type of cancer since there are 3,490 new cases occurring in the United States in 2023. More often than not, the cancer is secondary, which means it results from another type of cancer found elsewhere in the body, that has spread to the eye.
This article includes a list of photos of eye cancer, a description of what its symptoms can look like, and details on how doctors can diagnose it.
What does eye cancer look like?
Eye cancer can look very different, depending on which part of the eye it affects and how big the tumor is. A person could notice the following:
- a growing dark spot on the iris, or even the colored area of the eye
- changes in the shape and size of the pupil, the dark center of the eye
- lumps on, in, or even around the eye
- bulging in the eye
- changes in the position of the eyeball within its socket
- changes in the way the eyeball moves within its socket
Eye cancers can easily affect how the eyes look in flash photography. As a general rule, when someone looks right into the flash of a camera, their eyes reflect a red color. This is quite a usual sign the eyes are healthy.
However, if someone only has this red reflection in one eye, or even if the reflection is another color, like white, yellow, or even black, this can sometimes point towards an eye condition. But it’s still important to note that any of the above symptoms can easily take place for a wide range of reasons. Someone having one or more of them doesn’t automatically mean they have cancer.
Can you always spot eye cancer in photos?
Eye cancer can be easily spotted in photographs. However, many people don’t have any symptoms in the early stages. It is only when the cancer grows in some parts of the eye or becomes advanced that people start developing symptoms.
Besides, the symptoms can also easily be mistaken for other conditions. For instance, if a child’s eye has a white reflection in flash photography, it can be a sign of retinoblastoma, which is quite a rare type of eye cancer that affects young children.
But this sign can also be the result of many other eye conditions. If the child looks to one side of the camera lens, for instance. To be sure that the photo is accurate, someone needs to make sure that:
- the child looks straight at the camera lens
- the background has only dim lighting
- they turn the camera flash on
- they switch red-eye reduction off
On a very similar note, hyperthyroidism can also cause eye bulging, and conjunctivitis might cause eye inflammation, too.
Other worth-mentioning eye cancer symptoms
Besides all the visible signs and symptoms of eye cancer, the condition can also cause vision changes, like blurriness, flashes of light, floaters, or even dots and squiggles in the field of vision, eye inflammation, and irritation that don’t improve, partial or complete loss of vision, and pain in and around the eye, even if it’s rare (unless the cancer spread outside the eye).
Of course, eye cancer signs and symptoms differ considerably, depending on the area it starts in, how large it really grows, and how far it spreads.
Early versus advanced eye cancer
Doctors could use many staging systems to efficiently assess the development of eye cancer. In fact, the most common are the American Joint Committee on Cancer’s TNM system, as well as the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) group system. Both of these systems focus mainly on how large a person’s tumor can get, with the TNM system factoring in how far a tumor spreads, too. In the earliest stages, eye cancer tumors are generally too small to be visible or provoke any obvious vision changes. In the COMS system, a small tumor is up to 3 millimeters high and 5 to 16 mm wide.
As soon as a tumor reached an advanced stage, which means it is large enough or spread significantly, it could become quite visible in an eye exam.
Can opticians really diagnose eye cancer?
Opticians generally help people find the right pair of eyeglasses. However, they can’t perform eye exams. For this particular reason, they can’t diagnose eye cancer. But an optometrist can perform eye examinations and could, at times, spot early signs of eye cancer during one.
When this happens, they could even refer the person to an ophthalmologist, which is a specialized eye doctor, for more investigations. The ophthalmologist can ask you about the symptoms you have dealt with, and check your vision and eye movement.
Alternatively, they can look further for signs of enlarged blood vessels outside of the eye, because this can sometimes indicate there’s cancer inside the eye. Then, the doctor can use special tools to look inside the eye.
This might even involve using eye drops to dilate the pupils as they examine the eye with an ophthalmoscope, which is a handheld magnifying glass with a light, or a slit lamp, which has a higher magnification than an ophthalmoscope, or a gonioscopy lens, which is a mirrored lens that goes over the outer part of the eye.
If there are any signs of cancer, the ophthalmologist could refer you to an ocular oncologist. They might even order medical imaging tests, like an MRI or even an ultrasound. As a general rule, medical imaging is enough to enable the doctor to make a diagnosis without the need for a biopsy. However, they could recommend a biopsy if they want to test for a specific gene that might affect the outlook.
When it’s time to contact a doctor
If anyone experiences any kind of challenges in vision or the appearance of the eye, it is advised to contact a doctor. This goes even more if they have recently had an eye exam. Eye cancer symptoms can rapidly develop as soon as the tumor reaches a specific stage, so it’s very important to notify a doctor about any changes.
It’s also essential for people who have a personal or family history of melanoma or who have previously had any type of cancer, to look for medical advice if they notice any symptoms. Melanoma is probably the most common type of eye cancer, even if it’s still quite rare overall
Summary
When we look at photographs of eye cancer, we can easily notice changes in the shapes and sizes of the pupil. As a general rule, there’s a dark spot on the iris that grows in size, lumps around the eye, and bulges. In flash photography, one or sometimes both eyes might not have the typical red reflection, but still a white or yellow reflection instead.
But eye cancer is quite difficult to identify at first. In the early stages, it might not be visible in photographs at all. As a result, people shouldn’t rely solely on photos of the eyes to look for early signs of cancer. The best thing to do if you have any concerns is to discuss with a doctor.
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