An article in the 1999 issues of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute highlights a pioneering treatment technique for ocular cancer developed by Dr. Paul Finger.

Up until that time, removal of the eyeball was still commonly used to treat large eye tumors. Dr. Finger developed an effective alternative using radiotherapy.

“Paul T. Finger, M.D., calls himself a champion — or more accurately, the champion — of palladium-103 in radiotherapy of eye melanomas, which he said should reduce the chance of common side effects such as neovascular glaucoma, cataract, hemorrhage, and neuropathy compared with I-125. The lower-energy photons generated by palladium-103 are more rapidly absorbed in tissue. The result is that the same dose at the apex — the target point for the radiation — results in a higher dose to nearby tissue and a lower dose to more distant healthy tissue than I-125 would give.”

At the time, Dr. Finger was believed to be the only physician in the world using this treatment for eye cancer. It is now used in multiple centers in the United States of America (where palladium-103 seeds are most widely available).

You can read the entire JNCI article HERE for more detailed information on the evolution of this treatment.