Sections

Orbital Oncology & Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery

Orbital Oncology and Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery is a subspecialty that focuses on the surgical treatment of tumors of the eye, orbit, eyelid, conjunctiva and other ocular adnexal structures, as well as reconstructive surgery in the periocular region in cancer patients. At MD Anderson, the primary goals of this subspecialty are surgical elimination of ocular and orbital cancers while preserving the eye and vision, and restoring function and cosmesis in the periocular region.

In this subspecialty within the Plastic Surgery department, Bita Esmaeli, M.D., professor of Ophthalmology, sees approximately 350 new patients and consultations each year. Among these are patients with rare cancers of the ocular and orbital area that require multidisciplinary expertise offered by departments across MD Anderson.  Specific diseases and cancers treated by physicians in this subspecialty include conjunctival tumors, eyelid cancers, lacrimal gland tumors, orbital tumors and uveal melanoma.

Dr. Esmaeli sees patients in the Ophthalmology Clinic at MD Anderson. For new patient referrals please contact: 713-792-4457.

There are several clinical trials and protocols that are currently underway which are focused on cancers of the eye, orbit, and ocular adnexa are actively recruiting patients. These include:

• Sentinel lymph node biopsy for Conjunctival and Eyelid Melanoma (GSP00-106)
• Blood and Tumor Banking for Uveal Melanoma (Lab 02-693)
• Sentinel lymph node biopsy for sebaceous carcinoma of eyelid and conjunctiva (2008-0266)
• In vivo confocal microscopy for conjunctival melanoma (2010-0330)
• Low-dose radiation therapy for orbital and ocular adnexal lymphoma.

Other research efforts include the use of genomic testing to explore personalized targeted treatments for patients with orbital and ocular cancers; adjuvant radiation therapy for eyelid and orbital cancers after globe preserving surgery; sentinel lymph node biopsy for eyelid and conjunctival tumors to detect early metastasis; and the development of multi-institutional clinical databases for rare cancers of the ocular and orbital region.