What treatments are given for medium choroidal melanoma?
For 100 years or longer, the usual treatment for choroidal melanoma has been removal of the eye, or enucleation. If the tumor has not spread to other parts of the body, then removal of the eye rids the patient of the tumor. Since World War II, radiation treatment has been used for choroidal melanoma. During the past 20 years, this method of treatment has been refined. Radiation, at the appropriate dose rates and in the proper physical forms, is intended to eliminate growing tumor cells without causing damage to normal tissue sufficient to require removal of the eye. As the cells die, the tumor shrinks, but it usually does not disappear entirely. The most promising widely available method for irradiating medium choroidal melanoma involves constructing a small plaque with radioactive pellets glued to one side. Doctors who take care of patients who have choroidal melanoma are enthusiastic about the possibilities for this treatment, but satisfactory information about long-term results is n
