British researchers
say people suffering from eye cancer might avoid visual handicaps and spread
of the disease by receiving proton beam radiation therapy.
The study, conducted
on 349 patients at the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Center, was designed to
determine visual acuity, local tumor control, ocular retention and overall
survival after patients received proton beam radiation therapy for melanoma
affecting their eyes.
The patients
chosen were deemed unsuitable for other forms of treatment because of their
tumor size and location, with 75 percent having tumors extending to within
three millimeters of the optic disk, which, if affected, can cause blindness.
The large tumors also posed an increased risk of the tumor returning, retinal
detachment and glaucoma.
Of the 346 patients
who had the ability to count fingers before treatment, 79.1 percent retained
that ability at the five-year mark. Before treatment, 212 patients had
20/40 vision, 44.8 percent retained that visual acuity five years following
radiation therapy.
Overall survival
rates based on the cancer spreading to other parts of the body showed 90
percent of the patients able to stave off further disease after five years.
The study appears
in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology.
--
Copyright 2005 by United
Press International.
All rights reserved.
--
|
