07/02/2021
CANCER AND THE EYES (PART TWO)
The following factors can raise a person’s risk of developing eye cancer:
1. Age. People over age 50 are most likely to be diagnosed with eye cancer. But can happen in any age (though rare in people over 70)
2. Race: it is more common in white people and less common in black people.
3. Gender: It affects men and women.
4. Individual history: People with a pigmentation of the eye or skin around the eye and Nevi, or spots like moles in the eye
5. Family history: it can run in families, although it is rare.
6. Eye color: people with light eye colors are at more risk
7. Other factors. Some studies have suggested that exposure to sunlight or certain chemicals may be a risk factor .
People with a combination of these risk factors may benefit from seeing an optometrist or an ophthalmologist for a yearly examination and protecting their eyes from ultraviolet (UV) radiation special protective glasses.
People with eye cancers often have no symptoms. Many times, an eye doctor finds the tumor during a regular eye examination. The most common symptom is painless loss of vision.
People with eye cancer may experience the following symptoms or signs. Sometimes people with eye cancer do not show any of these symptoms. Or, these symptoms may be caused by a medical condition that is not cancer.
1. Blurred vision
2. Losing part or all of the field of vision
3. Seeing flashes of light
4. Seeing spots, squiggly lines, or floating objects (floaters)
5. Having a dark spot on the iris.
6. Bulging of one eye
7. A lump on the eyelid or in the eye that's increasing in size
8. Pain in or around the eye
