In two weeks, Susan went from blurred vision to having an eye removed – Brisbane Times

In just a fortnight, Susan Vine went from having a sudden blurriness in her vision to having one of her eyes removed.

She was one of the unlucky handful of Australians who suffer from uveal melanoma, a form of the deadly cancer that develops in the eye.

Susan Vine was diagnosed in 2005 with a melanoma in her eye, which was removed just two weeks later.

In Ms Vines case, she was one of the even smaller set of people who develop the cancer on their iris. But that might have saved her life.

Id always had a freckle on my eye, but Id never thought about it, I didnt know you could get melanoma in your eye, she said.

But I started having blurry vision, and it turned out it was because that freckle had started to grow across my pupil.

Diagnosed in 2005 at the age of 37, Ms Vine said the time after her diagnosis was a blur just like her vision before she was rushed for emergency surgery to have her eye removed.

An example of a uveal or eye melanoma forming on the iris.Credit:QIMR Berghofer

When I was diagnosed, I cried for days, she said.

It was devastating. I had two young children, it was a blur, I just went to scans and follow-ups and then before I knew it, surgery.

About 175 new cases of eye melanoma are diagnosed in Australia annually.

Ocular melanomas are more commonly found in the back of the eye and those found there often have worse outcomes for patients as they can spread quickly to other areas of the body, especially the brain.

Many patients will lose their sight in the affected eye as part of the treatment, which can involve radiation and laser therapy for small cancers, or removal of the eye for more advanced tumours.

Ms Vine was one of the 50 per cent of cases who do not see any subsequent cancers, and has remained cancer-free.

She agreed to be part of a new study at QIMR Berghofer medical research institute in an effort to find out more about the rare but deadly forms of cancer.

Previously it was thought that unlike skin melanomas, which are significantly affected by UV rays, eye melanomas were not affected by sunlight.

However, research from QIMR has found about 5 percent of ocular melanomas, mostly iris melanomas like Ms Vines, are at least partially caused by sunlight exposure.

QIMR ophthalmologist Dr Lindsay McGrath said that meant treatments which were previously thought to be ineffective against eye melanomas could be brought to bear.

Some of the immunotherapies which have been developed for skin melanomas might play more of a role in uveal melanoma which has spread outside the eye, Dr McGrath said.

At the moment we have no treatment for eye melanomas which spread beyond the eye, and patients have to get involved in clinical trials just for a chance at a treatment.

The researchers also discovered a common anti-cancer gene called TP53 was switched off in uveal melanomas, which has highlighted a further avenue for possible treatment in the future.

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The findings emphasise the importance of wearing UV-blocking sunglasses, Dr McGrath said.

Ms Vine said she hoped the research would allow other people to keep their eyes and their sight as new treatments are developed in the future.

People dont think about getting their eyes checked if they dont wear glasses, but it can save your life, she said.

Stuart Layt covers health, science and technology for the Brisbane Times. He was formerly the Queensland political reporter for AAP.

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In two weeks, Susan went from blurred vision to having an eye removed - Brisbane Times