Primary Tumour Type, Clinical Features, Treatment and Outcome of Patients with Iris Metastasis

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To describe the primary tumour type, clinical features, treatment and outcome of patients with Iris metastasis.

Methods

Retrospectively analyzed articles published from 1934 to 2019 in the PubMed database.

Results

In total, 133 eyes of 125 patients with iris metastatic carcinoma were retrieved. The average age at metastasis diagnosis of the patients was 56 ± 15 years; 60 left eyes and 49 right eyes were involved. The most common primary tumors were lung carcinoma (42%) and breast carcinoma (15%). Approximately one-third of the patients were first diagnosed in the ophthalmology department before the primary tumor was detected. Twenty-two percent of iris metastases were discovered before and 33% were discovered after systemic metastasis. The most common complaints were blurred vision and pain. The clinical features included iris masses, neovascularization and keratic precipitates. 57 patients (64%, N = 90) had an elevated intraocular pressure. Local administration of radiation therapy or intraocular injections of anti-VEGF drugs relieved eye discomfort and controlled the high intraocular pressures.

Conclusions

Iris nodules with increased intraocular pressure and neovascularization may indicate iris metastasis. Lung cancer is the most common primary tumor.

KEYWORDS:

• Iris metastasis
• uveal metastasis
• lung carcinoma
• breast carcinoma
• elevated intraocular pressure

Competing interests

None of the authors have a proprietary or financial interest in the products mentioned.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number No. 81300752, Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Project, grant number No. 20200201333JC. Jilin Province Health Special Project, grant number No. 2020SCZT058.