Hyderabad: Despite increasing awareness about cancers in recent years, it is a little known fact that cancer can even happen in the eye. Eye cancer is a generic term used to explain many types of cancer or tumours that form in the tissues in and around the eye or in the exterior parts of the eye, such as the eyelid or conjunctiva. It can occur in newborns, children and adults.
“Among all forms of cancers, the incidence of eye cancer is estimated to be low. But it can result in loss of life and vision. It is curable if the tumour is detected early. Spreading awareness will help in the early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of eye cancer, thus saving life and vision of a person. Whenever we are treating a patient with cancer, there are three goals that we want to achieve — first, save the life; second, save the eye; and third, save the vision of the patient,” Dr Swathi Kaliki, head, Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer, LV Prasad Eye Institute, said.
“Despite our best efforts to save a life in a significant percentage of patients, eye removal surgery is required,” she said, days ahead of World Cancer Day (Feb 4).
