Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Retinal Metastatic Tumors

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Clinical Ophthalmic Oncology

Abstract

The most common form of intraocular malignancy is metastatic disease. The most common primary sites are the lung in men and the breast in women. Retinal metastases are much rarer than those in the choroid. Biopsy is useful for confirming the diagnosis and may indicate the location of the primary tumor. Most patients are treated with radiotherapy; however, a multidisciplinary approach to management is needed. Despite successful eradication of the retinal metastasis, patient survival prognosis is poor.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Redmond KJ, Wharam-Jr MD, Schachat AP. Choroidal metastases. In: Retina, vol. 3. 5th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2012. p. 2324–9.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Uhler EM. Metastatic malignant melanoma of the retina. Am J Ophthalmol. 1940;23:158–62.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Srivastava SK, Bergstrom C. Retinal metastases. In: Retina, vol. 3. 5th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2012. p. 2185–95.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Smoleroff JW, Agatston SA. Metastatic carcinoma of the retina: report of a case with pathologic observations. Arch Ophthalmol. 1934;12(3):359–65.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kennedy RJ, Rummel WD, McCarthy JL, et al. Metastatic carcinoma of the retina; report of a case and the pathologic findings. AMA Arch Ophthalmol. 1958;60(1):12–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Duke JR, Walsh FB. Metastatic carcinoma to the retina. Am J Ophthalmol. 1959;47(1 Part 1):44–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Liddicoat DA, Wolter JR, Wilkinson WC. Retinal metastasis of malignant melanoblastoma; a case report. Am J Ophthalmol. 1959;48(2):172–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Riffenburgh RS. Metastatic malignant melanoma to the retina. Arch Ophthalmol. 1961;66:487–9.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Koenig RP, Johnson DL, Monahan RH. Bronchogenic carcinoma with metastases to the retina. Am J Ophthalmol. 1963;56:827–9.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Flindall RJ, Fleming KO. Metastatic tumour of the retina. Can J Ophthalmol. 1967;2(2):130–2.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Klein R, Nicholson DH, Luxenberg MN. Retinal metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Am J Ophthalmol. 1977;83(3):358–61.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Young SE, Cruciger M, Lukeman J. Metastatic carcinoma to the retina: case report. Ophthalmology. 1979;86(7):1350–4.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Robertson DM, Wilkinson CP, Murray JL, et al. Metastatic tumor to the retina and vitreous cavity from primary melanoma of the skin: treatment with systemic and subconjunctival chemotherapy. Ophthalmology. 1981;88(12):1296–301.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Piro P, Pappas HR, Erozan YS, et al. Diagnostic vitrectomy in metastatic breast carcinoma in the vitreous. Retina. 1982;2(3):182–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Letson AD, Davidorf FH. Bilateral retinal metastases from cutaneous malignant melanoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 1982;100(4):605–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. de-Bustros S, Augsburger JJ, Shields JA, et al. Intraocular metastases from cutaneous malignant melanoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 1985;103(7):​937–40.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Takagi T, Yamaguchi T, Mizoguchi T, et al. A case of metastatic optic nerve head and retinal carcinoma with vitreous seeds. Ophthalmologica. 1989;199(2–3):123–6.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Best SJ, Taylor W, Allen JP. Metastatic cutaneous malignant melanoma of the vitreous and retina. Aust N Z J Ophthalmol. 1990;18(4):397–400.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Leys AM, Van-Eyck LM, Nuttin BJ, et al. Metastatic carcinoma to the retina. Clinicopathologic findings in two cases. Arch Ophthalmol. 1990;​108(10):1448–52.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Balestrazzi E, Blasi MA, Marullo M, et al. Local excision of retinal metastasis from cutaneous melanoma. Eur J Ophthalmol. 1995;5(3):149–54.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Spraul CW, Lang GE, Grossniklaus HE, et al. Metastatic adenocarcinoma to the retina in a patient with Muir-Torre syndrome. Am J Ophthalmol. 1995;120(2):248–50.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Spraul CW, Martin DF, Hagler WS, et al. Cytology of metastatic cutaneous melanoma to the vitreous and retina. Retina. 1996;16(4):328–32.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Gündüz K, Shields JA, Shields CL, et al. Cutaneous melanoma metastatic to the vitreous cavity. Ophthalmology. 1998;105(4):600–5.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Spadea L, Bisti S, Colucci S, et al. Normal EOG values in intraretinal metastasis from cutaneous melanoma: a case report. Doc Ophthalmol. 1998-1999;96(4):305–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Hutchison BM, McAllister IL, Barry CJ. Bowel carcinoma metastatic to the retina. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2001;29(6):438–9.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Soheilian M, Mirbabai F, Shahsavari M, et al. Metastatic cutaneous melanoma to the vitreous cavity masquerading as intermediate uveitis. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2002;12(4):324–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Truong SN, Fern CM, Costa DL, et al. Metastatic breast carcinoma to the retina: optical coherence tomography findings. Retina. 2002;22(6):​813–5.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Zografos L, Ducrey N, Beati D, et al. Metastatic melanoma in the eye and orbit. Ophthalmology. 2003;110(11):2245–56.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Zografos L, Mirimanoff RO, Angeletti CA, et al. Systemic melanoma metastatic to the retina and vitreous. Ophthalmologica. 2004;218(6):​424–33.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Saornil MA, Blanco G, Sarasa JL, et al. Isolated metastasis of gastric adenocarcinoma to the retina: first presentation of systemic disease. Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2004;82(1):86–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Rossi A, Manto A, Maione P, et al. Synchronous bilateral retinal metastases from lung adenocarcinoma. Tumori. 2005;91(3):287–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Apte RS, Dibernardo C, Pearlman JR, et al. Retinal metastasis presenting as a retinal hemorrhage in a patient with adenocarcinoma of the cecum. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(6):850–3.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Sirimaharaj M, Hunyor AP, Chan WC, et al. Unusual ocular metastasis from breast cancer. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2006;34(1):74–6.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Rundle P, Rennie I. Photodynamic therapy for solitary retinal metastasis from breast carcinoma. Eye (Lond). 2006;20(12):1410–2.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Khurana RN, Tran VT, Rao NA. Metastatic cutaneous melanoma involving the retina and vitreous. Arch Ophthalmol. 2007;125(9):1296–7.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Alegret A, Cebulla CM, Dubovy SR, et al. Pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma with retinal metastasis. Retin Cases Brief Rep. 2009;3(1):8–11.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Kim CY, Ha CW, Lee SC. Vitreous and retinal metastasis from gastric cancer. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2010;20(3):615–7.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Coassin M, Ebrahimi KB, O’Brien JM, et al. Optical coherence tomography for retinal metastasis with unknown primary tumor. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging. 2011;42:e110–3.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Payne JF, Rahman HT, Grossniklaus HE, et al. Retinal metastasis simulating cytomegalovirus retinitis. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging. 2012;43:e90–3.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Shields CL, McMahon JF, Atalay HT, et al. Retinal metastasis from systemic cancer in 8 cases. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014;132(11):1303–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Taubenslag KJ, Kim SJ, Attia A, et al. Retinal metastasis from unknown primary: diagnosis, management, and clinicopathologic correlation. Digit J Ophthalmol. 2015;21(4):1–10.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Ishida T, Morohoshi K, Takeuchi Y, et al. Swept-source optical coherence tomographic findings in eyes with metastatic choroidal tumor. Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2017;8:44–7.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Essadi I, Lalya I, Kriet M, et al. Successful management of retinal metastasis from renal cancer with everolimus in a monophthalmic patient: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2017;11(1):340.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Correa-de-Mello P, Brasil OFM. Isolated retinal metastasis from breast cancer. Retina. 2017;37(11):e125–7.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Gokmen O, Cetin B, Senturk S. Retinal metastases from anaplastic astrocytoma. Am J Med Sci. 2017;354(2):217.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Praidou A, Jacob S, Irion L, et al. Retinal and vitreous metastases from hepatocholangiocarcinoma. BMC Cancer. 2017;17(1):430.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Chambers AF, Groom AC, MacDonald IC. Dissemination and growth of cancer cells in metastatic sites. Nat Rev Cancer. 2002;2(8):563–72.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Mego M, Mani SA, Cristofanilli M. Molecular mechanisms of metastasis in breast cancer—clinical applications. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2010;7(12):693–701.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Podsypanina K, Du YC, Jechlinger M, et al. Seeding and propagation of untransformed mouse mammary cells in the lung. Science. 2008;321(5897):​1841–4.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Jiang WG, Puntis MC, Hallett MB. Molecular and cellular basis of cancer invasion and metastasis: implications for treatment. Br J Surg. 1994;81(11):1576–90.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Tam WL, Weinberg RA. The epigenetics of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in cancer. Nat Med. 2013;19(11):1438–49.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Brabletz T, Kalluri R, Nieto MA, et al. EMT in cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 2018;18(2):128–34.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Hart IR, Goode NT, Wilson RE. Molecular aspects of the metastatic cascade. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1989;989(1):65–84.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Felding-Habermann B. Integrin adhesion receptors in tumor metastasis. Clin Exp Metastasis. 2003;20(3):203–13.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Mani SA, Guo W, Liao MJ, et al. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition generates cells with properties of stem cells. Cell. 2008;133(4):704–15.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Sampieri K, Fodde R. Cancer stem cells and metastasis. Semin Cancer Biol. 2012;22(3):187–93.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Scheel C, Eaton EN, Li SH, et al. Paracrine and autocrine signals induce and maintain mesenchymal and stem cell states in the breast. Cell. 2011;145(6):926–40.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  58. Nguyen DX, Bos PD, Massagué J. Metastasis: from dissemination to organ-specific colonization. Nat Rev Cancer. 2009;9(4):274–84.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Ferry AP, Font RL. Carcinoma metastatic to the eye and orbit. I. A clinicopathologic study of 227 cases. Arch Ophthalmol. 1974;92(4):276–86.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Shields JA, Shields CL, editors. Intraocular tumors: a text and atlas. Philadelphia: W B Saunders; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Ferry AP. Metastatic carcinoma of the eye and ocular adnexa. Int Ophthalmol Clin. 1967;7(3):615–58.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Chao YL, Shepard CR, Wells A. Breast carcinoma cells re-express E-cadherin during mesenchymal to epithelial reverting transition. Mol Cancer. 2010;9:179.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  63. Chaffer CL, Brennan JP, Slavin JL, et al. Mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition facilitates bladder cancer metastasis: role of fibroblast growth factor receptor-2. Cancer Res. 2006;66(23):11271–8.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Chaffer CL, Thompson EW, Williams ED. Mesenchymal to epithelial transition in development and disease. Cells Tissues Organs. 2007;185(1–3):7–19.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Pollock SC, Awh CC, Dutton JJ. Cutaneous melanoma metastatic to the optic disc and vitreous. Arch Ophthalmol. 1991;109(10):1352–4.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Parbhakaran VC, Font RL. Cutaneous malignant melanoma metastatic to the vitreous. Retina. 2007;27(3):379–81.

    Google Scholar 

  67. Shields CL, Materin MA, Shields JA. Review of optical coherence tomography for intraocular tumors. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2005;16(3):141–54.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Eagle-Jr RC. Carcinomatous retinitis. Hilton Head: Eastern Ophthalmic Pathology Society; 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  69. Mruthyunjaya P, Jumper JM, McCallum R, et al. Diagnostic yield of vitrectomy in eyes with suspected posterior segment infection or malignancy. Ophthalmology. 2002;109(6):1123–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Reynolds MM, Arnett AL, Parney IF, et al. Gamma knife radiosurgery for the treatment of uveal melanoma and uveal metastases. Int J Retina Vitreous. 2017;3:17.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Modorati G, Miserocchi E, Galli L, et al. Gamma knife radiosurgery for uveal melanoma: 12 years of experience. Br J Ophthalmol. 2009;93(1):40–4.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Bellmann C, Fuss M, Holz FG, et al. Stereotactic radiation therapy for malignant choroidal tumors: preliminary, short-term results. Ophthalmology. 2000;107(2):358–65.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Manusow JS, Khoja L, Pesin N, et al. Retinal vasculitis and ocular vitreous metastasis following complete response to PD-1 inhibition in a patient with metastatic cutaneous melanoma. J Immunother Cancer. 2014;2(1):41.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  74. Shankar J, Damato BE, Hiscott P. Palliative vitrectomy for intraocular metastasis from cutaneous melanoma. Eye (Lond). 2002;16(5):660–2.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Peter H. Tang & Prithvi Mruthyunjaya

  2. Duke University Eye Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Lejla Vajzovic

Authors
  1. Peter H. Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lejla Vajzovic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Prithvi Mruthyunjaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Prithvi Mruthyunjaya .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Arun D. Singh

  2. University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Bertil E. Damato

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Tang, P.H., Vajzovic, L., Mruthyunjaya, P. (2019). Retinal Metastatic Tumors. In: Singh, A., Damato, B. (eds) Clinical Ophthalmic Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04113-7_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04113-7_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-04112-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04113-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation