Why Is Eye Cancer Common?

According to the National Institutes of Health, eye cancer is not a commonly occurring cancer. Of the total number of cases diagnosed each year, the majority of eye cancers occurs in the eyeball and is the result of metastasis from other cancer sites.

Key Statistics

• In the American Cancer Society's "Key Statistics of Eye Cancer," about 2,350 new cases of eye and orbit cancer were diagnosed in the United States in 2009, with 230 deaths attributed to the disease. This works out to an incidence of .08 per 100,000 individuals.

Common Types

• Most cases of eye cancer will occur due to metastasis from other tumor sites. The most common type of eye cancer in adults is choroidal melanoma, an interocular cancer that occurs inside the pigment-producing cells of the choroid. For children it is retinoblastoma. There are 1,300 to 1,800 primary eye cancer cases diagnosed each year, and the American Cancer Society reports that nine out of ten of these melanomas begin in the skin.

Gender Specificity

• According to statistics compiled by Cancer.net, males and females have equal opportunities for developing eye disease--1,200 men compared to 1,150 women. For women, eye cancers are usually the result of metastasis from the breast. For men, eye cancers arise from metastasis of lung and prostate cancers. (Merck Manual, 2009)

Incidence by Age

• The National Cancer Institute's SEER statistics for 2002-2006 reveals that most cases of eye cancer occur after the age of 50; only 38 percent of all diagnosed cases happened below the age of 50. The median age hovers at 60 years of age.

Risk Factors

• Individuals with blue or green eyes and fair complexions tend to be at higher risk for choroidal melanoma, the same population most at risk for developing skin melanomas.

Five-Year Survival Rates

• Cancer.net reports that the five-year survival rate for choroidal melanoma is 85 percent. The percentage decreases with each size increase of the cancer, dipping to 50 to 60 percent for large melanomas.