A Panoramic Look into the World of Ocular Oncology

Peeking through a keyhole can be an eye-opening experience. Some keyholes might expose the sun shining through a curtained window onto a table, while others might reveal a busy playroom with children and toys, and yet another might show an outdoor market with colorful vegetables and fruits. The world's most famous keyhole is located in Rome, Italy and those who peek through it are greeted with a gorgeous view of St Peter's Basilica framed by rows of green vegetation through the garden of the Villa Magistrale . An extraordinary experience — to say the least.

But a keyhole view can be limiting, providing only a small slice of the true image. A more complete view would be a panorama of the curtained room, playroom, or market. To achieve that, a wide-angle fish-eye lens would be ideal. This versatile lens captures 180 degrees field of view so that the viewer can see from horizon to horizon.

In this book, Cassoux and Desjardins provide a wide-angle, panoramic vista of ocular oncology, a true experience of the spectrum of cancers seen around and within the eye. They open this atlas with basic principles of ophthalmic surgery from “no touch” technique for conjunctival tumors, to iridocyclectomy for select intraocular tumors, to enucleation, exenteration and prosthesis fitting. So, the reader understands the tools and rules for management from the start.

They then investigate each tumor, organized by location, describing features of both conjunctival and intraocular tumors. Regarding conjunctival tumors, clinical features of squamous neoplasia and melanocytic tumors, as well as lymphoid variants and less common tumors such as choristomas, histiocytic, sarcomatous, vascular, and lipomatous lesions are provided. A broad and colorful array of conjunctival tumors is illustrated and described for the reader.

Entering into the eye, these authors first focus on iris tumors and then tumors of the choroid. Clinical and illustrative cases are portrayed including choroidal nevus, comprising the bland and suspicious variants, choroidal melanoma and its differential diagnosis, including conditions such as melanocytoma, bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation, peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy, scleritis, and others. In the world of ocular oncology, it is important that the clinician be able to distinguish the malignant processes from the benign imposters and this is well illuminated herein. Other interesting choroidal tumors like hemangioma, metastasis, osteoma, and sclerochoroidal calcification are illustrated.

Next, Cassoux and Desjardins differentiate the variety of fascinating and mysterious retinal pigment epithelial tumors, a family of pigmented lesions that can be congenital, atypical, and occasionally have overlapping features with malignant melanoma. From congenital hypertrophy to hyperplasia to adenoma, the reader will be more comfortable with these unusual retinal pigment epithelial tumors.

Lastly, these authors explore the ominous retinal tumors that often impact the pediatric population, including retinoblastoma and its challenging clinical therapies and its simulators, such as medulloepithelioma and Coats disease. Retinal hemangioblastoma and vitreoretinal lymphoma, seen more often in the adult population, are described and illustrated to complete the journey through the eye.

This atlas is a panoramic feast of the assorted spectrum of conjunctival and intraocular tumors, prepared by the seasoned and absolutely expert authorship of Cassoux and Desjardins. These authors have unparalleled experience with ocular oncology at the world-renown Institute Curie in Paris, France. The illustrations, descriptions, and managements are sure to capture the interest of the reader and provide necessary instruction in this valuable topic of ocular tumors. Perhaps the reader might spend a day or maybe a week or possibly a lifetime exploring the “horizon to horizon”, sweeping world of ocular oncology.