There are 1,750 entries in Dates in Ophthalmology a "chronological record of progress of ophthalmology over the last millennium," compiled by noted ocular pathologist, Dr. Daniel Albert.
Of those, only 15 deal with ocular melanoma, an eye cancer also known as uveal melanoma, choroidal melanoma, eye melanoma, intraocular melanoma and ciliary body melanoma.
That works out to about 1% of the total entries, which, oddly enough, mirrors the total number of people diagnosed with this cancer each year as compared to all other cancers.
In both the historical and personal experience, eye cancer is a rare disease.
The majority of the chronology briefly and elegantly describes 1,000 years worth of discoveries into cataracts, eye design and structure, instruments and techniques, trauma and infections. It's clear that even rudimentary research executed by primitive means led to sustained improvements in patient eye health.
Except, that is, for ocular melanoma, the cause of and cure for which continues to elude today's clinicians and patients.
It's fitting then, that Dr. Albert gives ocular melanoma the very last entry in his compilation. In 2002, the National Eye Institute's Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS), which he worked on from 1985-2003, and where he led the Pathology Center, proved that the modern-day treatment of bracytherapy had the same survival rates as the ancient therapy of enucleation (eye removal).
In closing like this, even Albert, a dedicated champion of ocular research, recognizes that ocular melanoma remains a challenge to visual science. Let's hope that the next 1,000-year ophthalmic chronology opens on a better note.
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