Day 5: Live From the ISOO 2019!

Day 5 at the ISOO: Corneal & Conjunctival Cancers

Every two years, eye cancer specialists worldwide convene at the International Society of Ocular Oncology Conference in order to review latest research and encourage international collaboration within the field of ophthalmic oncology.

For details on the ISOO Biennial Conference, read more here.

 

The final day of the ISOO was dedicated solely to cancers of the conjunctiva, lid, and orbit. Another day filled with research findings and discussion on proper treatment and lesser-known, evidently effective therapeutic techniques.

OSSN: Is Surgery Really Necessary?

Poster by Dr. Paul T. Finger and Dr. Chaugule

Is surgery necessary? Dr. Sonal Chaugule asked the question in the paper, Topical chemotherapy for giant ocular surface squamous neoplasia of the conjunctiva and cornea, published alongside Dr. Paul Finger and Dr. Jennifer Park. In the case of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN), the standard of treatment for years has been surgical excision with adjuvant cryotherapy. However, Chaugule and Finger performed this study in order to compare chemotherapeutic eye drops versus the surgical standard. The eye drops alone have the benefits of convenience and avoidance of complications (however unlikely) from surgery. Ultimately, chemotherapy was found to be sufficient treatment for even giant OSSN. The found that “ topical therapy treated the entire ocular surface and avoided surgical intervention … topical chemotherapy [also] resulted in less scarring and stem cell loss compared to [surgery]. Clearly, larger tumors than widely expected can be controlled with topical chemotherapy alone.”

The full text is available, public-access here.

Palladium Succeeds with Monocular Patient

From Left: Dr. Ekaterina Semenova, Dr. Paul Finger

Our now-graduated fellow Dr. Ekaterina Semenova presented on an already-blogged about, very unique case. A patient had only one functioning eye, and had previously undergone a corneal transplant in this eye. After treating this patient with Palladium-103 plaque brachytherapy through the natural and transplanted cornea, the tumor was found to be controlled and the patient’s vision was conserved.

Read about this case in greater detail on our blog here.

Super-Thick Amniotic Membrane Grafts for Eye Cancer Patients

From Left: Dr. Paul Finger, Dr. Puneet Jain

Another ECF graduate, Dr. Puneet Jain, presented on Super Thick Amniotic Membrane Graft (ST-AMG) Successfully Used for Ocular Surface Reconstruction. Compared to the often-used single-layer amniotic membrane graft, the larger grafts allow for greater patient comfort, as well as greater ease of suture, increased likelihood of remaining in place for the required duration, as well as decreased likelihood of tearing. 

Read about this case in greater detail on our blog here.

Keratoacanthoma: An Unusual Location!

A fellow of Dr. Santosh Honavar at The Centre for Sight in Hyderabad, India, Dr. Ankit Singh Tomar will be joining us as the most recent Eye Cancer Foundation fellow. He presented a unique case of a conjunctival keratoacanthoma on the tarsal conjunctiva. It was the first reported case of this extremely unique pathology, and was managed surgically without complications at The Centre for Sight.

We hope to see more great research from Dr. Tomar after he joins us for his fellowship training in ophthalmic oncology her at The New York Eye Cancer Center.

Welcome to our new fellow, Dr. Tomar!

The End, For Now

This marks the final day of the conference and it has since come to a close, though many plans have been made for international cooperation, multi-center databases, and collaborative research so that eye cancer patients worldwide will one day not only have access to care, but have access to the best care we have available. Progress is being made behind the scenes as we speak, and we hope to bring you amazing news for the next conference in 2021.

Until then, thank you for your attention and we thank the amazing physicians and researchers for their great work.

Dr. Finger with delegates from Russia
Dr. Finger with our most recent ECF fellowship graduate, Dr. Ann Musika (right) and her mentor, Dr. Vicktoria Dai (left)

Remember — you can always be a part of our research and international fellowship training by giving a gift to The Eye Cancer Foundation. Dozens of papers this year were presented due to funding from The ECF.

 

Donate Now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Live From the ISOO 2019!

Day 3 at the ISOO: Melanoma, Other Intraocular Cancers, and Basic Retinoblastoma Science

Every two years, eye cancer specialists worldwide convene at the International Society of Ocular Oncology Conference in order to review latest research and encourage international collaboration within the field of ophthalmic oncology.

For details on the ISOO Biennial Conference, read more here.

Dr. Puneet Jain presenting his iris varix poster

Dr. Puneet Jain returned to give us some insight on iris varix by presenting his paper Iris varix: 10-year experience with 28 eyes, published alongside Dr. Paul Finger during his Eye Cancer Foundation fellowship. The study began with the intention to more clearly define iris varix, consistent characteristics, imaging findings, and note any consistent change that might occur with observation. The results showed that iris varix is “primarily located in the inferotemporal quadrant, not associated with dysmorphic pupillary findings, progression, secondary glaucoma, or malignancy.” Essentially, “iris varices were benign vasculopathies with no associated ocular or vision-related morbidity.”

Dr. Ekaterina Semenova’s poster presentation

Why are some cases naturally suppressed by the immune system? Dr. Ekaterina Semenova raised the question, noting five cases in which choroidal melanoma in the patient had spontaneously regressed in her paper Spontaneously Regressed and Apparently Dormant Choroidal Melanomas, also published alongside Dr. Finger. She opened up discussion to the audience, though consensus was that this would be an interesting topic for future research in order to determine the cause. Now that such cases have been documented, we have this data to look back on and, hopefully, make additions to.

Dr. Abhilasha Maheshwari (left) and Dr. Paul Finger (right) after another successful poster presentation!

Finger’s Slotted Plaques was recognized in Dr. Abhilasha Maheshwari presentation, A 12-Year Study of Slotted Eye Plaque Radiation for Choroidal Melanoma: Near, Touching, or Surrounding the Optic Nerve. Over a decade’s worth of data was analyzed and slotted plaques were found to be very effective and resulted in good patient outcomed for patients whose tumor lies close to the optic nerve. These plaques offer more proper positioning of the plaque, allowing radiation to the entire melanoma plus a 2-3 mm margin. Dr. Maheshwari concluded that even after 12 years, “slotted plaque radiation therapy resulted in high rates of local tumor control and vision and eye retention.”

That’s all for today’s ECF highlights! Day 4 will be fully dedicated to retinoblastoma. Stay tuned!

 

To help sponsor fellowships and fellow research, donate to The Eye Cancer Foundation at www.eyecancercure.com/donate.

Day 1: Live From the ISOO 2019!

Day 1 at the ISOO: International Collaboration & Eye Cancer Care Worldwide

Every two years, eye cancer specialists worldwide convene at the International Society of Ocular Oncology Conference in order to review latest research and encourage international collaboration within the field of ophthalmic oncology.

For details on the ISOO Biennial Conference, read more here.

International Collaboration

The day began with a few talks instigating discussion on how to approach international, collaborative efforts, and how to improve on how we currently approach international cooperation. How do we get over international boundaries and laws restricting data-sharing, and varying laws surrounding research across countries? Much is yet to be done, though discussion is expected to continue as specialists from all over the world have convened at this conference.

Read on how Dr. Finger encourages international cooperation here.

What Do We Register and Why?

Featured ECF Fellow: Dr. Puneet Jain

Dr. Puneet Jain, on Registering Conjunctival Melanoma
Dr. Paul Finger (left) and ECF fellow Dr. Puneet Jain (right) immediately after his debut lecture.

Registries were a huge topic of discussion today. What is possible to be registered, what details should we include within the registry, how do avoid duplicate cases within separate registries, and how do we apply this to international cooperation? Among other points of discussion, however, it was unanimous that functional registries would assist greatly both with research and patient outcomes. The New York Eye Cancer Center’s recently graduated fellow, Dr. Puneet Jain, spoke particularly on the registering of conjunctival melanoma. His research with Dr. Finger evidenced the accuracy of the AJCC’s TMN classification for predicting metastasis.

 

Developing Worldwide Retinoblastoma Care

Dr. Brenda Gallie credits the Eye Cancer Foundation for research support.
Dr. Brenda Gallie credits the Eye Cancer Foundation for research support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Brenda Gallie discussed the development of retinoblastoma care worldwide. She noted the growing importance of genetic testing, stating a case in which laser treatment was sufficient enough to control the disease. She briefly mentioned project DepictRB as a way to display anonymized patient data, and offered the audience a demo of the program.

Conclusion

The day concluded with unanimous agreement that worldwide collaboration within the field of eye cancer needs to continue and needs to improve. With enhanced cooperation and worldwide registries, the

amount of shared data will assist greatly in advancement of research, diagnosis, and patient outcomes.

Tomorrow we cover ocular melanoma in great detail. Stay tuned, out fellows and Dr. Finger will be informing us with their expertise!

ISOO 2019 Day 1 Complete!

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