How will patients be followed in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study after Treatment?
After enucleation, several clinic visits are required so that the surgeon can monitor the healing process. Once the patient recovers from enucleation surgery or plaque therapy, visits are scheduled twice each year for five years and once a year for an additional five years or longer to monitor the patient’s health, observe the tumor’s response to radiation when plaque therapy is used, monitor the status of the other eye, and look for any possible complications of the condition or the treatment. Sometimes there may be more frequent visits depending upon the needs of the patient. It is very important that every patient return for these follow-up visits. If a patient moves to another part of the country, arrangements will be made for continued follow-up care in another COMS center. Telephone interviews to determine the patient’s own assessment of health and vision are scheduled near the times of clinic examinations. Patients who move can continue to participate in these telephone intervie
