Incidence of Orbital Exenteration: A Nationwide Study in France over the 2006-2017 Period

Clinicodemographic profile of orbital exenteration in a tertiary eye care center - A 20-year experience

PURPOSE

This study aimed to determine the clinical indications for orbital exenteration, demographic profile of these patients, and clinicopathologic correlations in the current times and to compare these results with previous published data.

METHODS

It was a retrospective study. All exenterations performed at a tertiary eye care center over a period of 20 years (from January 2001 to June 2020) were retrospectively evaluated. Patient records were reviewed to obtain demographic data, presenting symptoms and their duration, laterality, and clinical and histopathologic diagnosis.

RESULTS

A total of 352 cases (males:females = 222:130) who underwent exenteration were identified. Patients age ranged from 11 months to 87 years (mean: 43.86 years, median: 50 years). The most common indication for exenteration was found to be eyelid malignancy in 54.36%, followed by retinoblastoma in 18.75% and primary orbital tumors in 14.49%. Out of 156 cases of eyelid malignancies requiring exenteration, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the most common histologic subtype ( n = 94, 60.26%), followed by sebaceous gland carcinoma ( n = 40, 25.64%) and basal cell carcinoma ( n = 20, 12.82%). The most common primary orbital tumors requiring exenteration were adenocystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland in adults and rhabdomyosarcoma in the pediatric age group. Benign conditions requiring exenteration included fulminant fungal orbital infections and lymphangioma among others.

CONCLUSION

The number of exenterations performed have significantly increased in terms of absolute numbers. However, the ratio of exenteration to other tumor-related surgeries, mainly excision biopsy, has reduced compared to that reported from a previous study. The most common indication in our study remains eyelid malignancy followed by intraocular malignancy. However, SCC has emerged as the most common tumor histologic subtype requiring exenterations.

Review of Targeted Therapy, Vismodegib, for the Treatment of Periocular Basal Cell Carcinoma

PURPOSE

Periocular locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (POLA-BCC) is characterized by orbital involvement and/or extensive invasion of periocular structures. Hedgehog pathway inhibitors have been used for POLA-BCC with promising outcomes.

METHODS

The authors reviewed 11 articles published in English literature from January 2012 to July 2022 and reported the outcomes of patients with POLA-BCC who were treated with vismodegib.

RESULTS

A total of 384 patients were treated with vismodegib. The mean age was 72 years, and the median treatment duration was 9 months. The overall response rate was 75% with a median follow-up time of 14.4 months. Following vismodegib treatment, the median number of patients who required adjuvant surgery was 43% with a median time to surgery of 6.5 months. The exenteration rate was 6% (overall 8 patients). In total 93.7% of patients experienced grade I adverse events, 26.7% to 37.5% grade II, 8.8% to 10% grade III-IV, and 0.8% to 4.8% grade V. Major side effects included dysgeusia (30-100%), muscle spasm (15-100%), alopecia (47-75%), weight loss (23-83%), and decreased appetite (19-42%). The median percentage of patients who discontinued treatment due to toxicity was 29% with a median interval of 5 months before the development of side effects. The median recurrence rate following discontinuation of vismodegib was 7.8% with a median recurrence duration of 20 months.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with POLA-BCC, vismodegib, a hedgehog pathway inhibitor, provided high rates of orbital preservation, reducing exenteration rates to 6%. Neoadjuvant therapy with vismodegib can also be suggested for patients with POLA-BCC. While extremely effective, side effects lead to temporary or permanent discontinuation of vismodegib in small numbers of patients.

A Retrospective Study of Ocular Cancer in Saudi Arabia: 25-Year Analysis

Background

Ocular malignancies are uncommon among eye diseases; however, they jeopardize both vision and life. The main objective of this study was to use to describe the epidemiology of eye and ocular adnexa malignancies across different ages and sex.

Methods

The King Khaled University institutional review board approved this study. Data on ocular cancer were retrieved from the Saudi Cancer Registry between 1994 and 2018. The registry collected important patient information such as demographic information (age, gender, and nationality), clinical details, and tumor classification.

Results

The total number of cases with ocular cancer diagnosed was 1051 cases. The highest number was recorded in Riyadh (35.39%, n=372), followed by Makkah (16.93%, n=178). The incidence was higher in the 0-4 years' age group (55.21%), and it got down as people got older. The data also revealed differences in the number of reported cases over time, as well as in the representation of eye cancer cases by gender and nationality. While many ocular cancer pathologies were seen, with "Retinoblastoma, not otherwise specified" being the most common (53.32%), the incidence rates for males and females remained largely stable over time.

Conclusion

The study emphasizes the need for continued monitoring, research, and analysis of potential of epidemiology of ocular cancer occurrence in Saudi Arabia. Identifying the geographical distribution and age pattern of Ocular malignancies have the potential to assist healthcare authorities and policymakers in developing precise strategies to reduce, recognize at an early stage, and successfully manage this condition.

Small but Challenging Conjunctival Melanoma: New Insights, Paradigms and Future Perspectives

Although its incidence has increased over the last decades, conjunctival melanoma (CM) remains a rare but challenging periocular malignancy. While there is currently no recognized standard of care, "no-touch" surgical excision followed by adjuvant treatments is usually recommended. Despite its small size, managing CM is challenging for clinicians. The first challenge is the high risk of tumour local recurrence that occurs in about one third of the patients. The management of locally advanced CM (≥T2) or multiple recurrences may require mutilating surgeries such as orbital exenteration (OE). The second challenge is the metastatic spread of CM that occurs in about one quarter of patients, regardless of whether complete surgical excision is performed or not. This highlights the infiltrative and highly aggressive behaviour of CM. Recently, attention has been directed towards the use of eye-sparing strategies to avoid OE. Initially, wide conservative surgeries followed by customized brachytherapy or radiotherapy have appeared as viable strategies. Nowadays, new biological insights into CM have revealed similarities with cutaneous melanoma. These new findings have allowed clinicians to reconsider the management of locally advanced CM with "medical" eye-sparing treatment as well as the management of metastatic spread. The aim of this review was to summarize the current and future perspectives of treatment for CM based on recent biological findings.

New Targeted Therapies and Immunotherapies for Locally Advanced Periocular Malignant Tumours: Towards a New 'Eye-Sparing' Paradigm?

The management of periocular skin malignant tumours is challenging. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for localised eyelid cancers. For more locally advanced cancers, especially those invading the orbit, orbital exenteration has long been considered the gold standard; however, it is a highly disfiguring and traumatic surgery. The last two decades have been marked by the emergence of a new paradigm shift towards the use of 'eye-sparing' strategies. In the early 2000s, the first step consisted of performing wide conservative eyelid and orbital excisions. Multiple flaps and grafts were needed, as well as adjuvant radiotherapy in selected cases. Although being incredibly attractive, several limitations such as the inability to treat the more posteriorly located orbital lesions, as well as unbearable diplopia, eye pain and even secondary eye loss were identified. Therefore, surgeons should distinguish 'eye-sparing' from 'sight-sparing' strategies. The second step emerged over the last decade and was based on the development of targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Their advantages include their potential ability to treat almost all tumours, regardless of their locations, without performing complex surgeries. However, several limitations have been reported, including their side effects, the appearance of primary or secondary resistances, their price and the lack of consensus on treatment regimen and exact duration. The aim of this article was to review the evolution of the management of locally advanced periocular malignant tumours over the last three decades and highlight the new paradigm shift towards the use of 'eye-sparing' strategies.