If doctor diagnoses an intraocular melanoma, he or she will recommend an evaluation to see if it has spread. This is called systemic staging. In that most choroidal melanoma metastases first show up in the liver, some centers will play the odds and limit your systemic evaluation to ultrasound, CT or MRI of the abdomen. However, studies have shown that intraocular melanomas also metastasize to the skin, bone and other organs. There is also a 3.3% possibility of a second other primary cancer. This is why Dr. Finger recommends an initial total body, scalp to toes PET/CT examination. Based on his studies of the rates of post-treatment metastasis, subsequent examinations are recommended every 6 months for 5 years and then every year thereafter (for a minimum total of 10 years).

Paul T. Finger, MD, FACS The New York Eye Cancer Center 115 East 61st Street New York City, New York, USA 10065

E-mail: [email protected]

Telephone: (011) 212 832 8170