Eye Cancer

This site is an excellent resource, containing a comprehensive list of sites related to eye conditions or disorders and general information about visual impairment and blindness.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Retinoblastoma is a rare cancerous tumor of the retina caused by a gene mutation. It generally affects children younger than 6 years old. This gene mutation may run in families or it may occur in a child with no family history of the disease.

According to the Mayo Clinic, melanoma develops in the cells that produce melanin — the pigment that gives your skin its color. Your eyes also have melanin-producing cells.

Eye melanoma most commonly develops in the uvea, the vascular layer of your eye sandwiched between the retina and the white of the eye (sclera). Also called ocular melanoma, eye melanoma can occur in the front part of the uvea (iris and ciliary body) or in the back part of the uvea (choroid layer).

According to the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/search/search), there are three major types of cancer of the eye:

• Ocular melanoma, the most common type of eye cancer in adults