Iris Tumours - Dr. David Sia

Iris tumours can range from benign lesions such as cysts, naevi, melanocytoma and vascular growths to malignant lesions such as iris melanoma, metastasis and lymphoma.
A biopsy of the lesion is sometimes required to ascertain the diagnosis of suspicious lesions.
Treatment for suspicious or malignant lesions may involve a combination of surgical excision or radiation therapy.

Plaque radiation therapy or plaque brachytherapy is a treatment where focal radiation is delivered to the tumour inside the eye by suturing a radioactive plaque to the outside of the eye.
This focused delivery allows the sparing of critical structures of the eye and body from unnecessary radiation damage.
This treatment involves two separate operations, usually a few days apart. The first operation is to insert the radioactive plaque and the second operation to remove it from the eye.
These procedures are performed under general anaesthesia at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Following insertion of the plaque, the patient is admitted to the hospital as an inpatient until the second operation. Visitors are allowed.
After the second operation, the patient can be discharged home with eye drops to use.
This procedure has a very high success rate of greater than 90% to treat the tumour in the eye.

Tumour biopsy is performed to either confirm a suspicious lesion or to provide prognostic information regarding risk of metastasis.
Depending on the location of the tumour, this procedure can be performed from the inside of the eye or from the outside.
It is usually performed at the same time as plaque radiation therapy but can be performed separately for indeterminate lesions.