A prognosis is a prediction of the outcome of one’s disease. How likely is survival? Will the cancer come back? These are the big questions on most people’s minds after receiving a diagnosis of orbital cancer. In general, there are several characteristics of the tumor that can inform a patient about their chances of being cured.
Factors That Affect Prognosis
Site
The location and size of the tumor can affect the surgeon’s ability to resect the tumor with adequate margins of healthy tissue around it.
Type & Grade
Both the type and grade of the tumor determine the amount of treatment necessary and the ultimate prognosis.
Spread into Local Structures
Spread into large nerves, blood vessels, the facial skeleton, the eye, or other structures can worsen prognosis.
Spread to Lymph Nodes
Spread to lymph nodes in the neck decreases the chance of cure, especially if there is evidence of cancer growth outside of the lymph node.
Tumor Margins
In tumors that are treated with surgery, the ability to completely remove the tumor with a margin of normal tissue around it is a very important factor in a patient’s prognosis.
Survival Rates for Patients with Orbital Cancer
Giving a percentage of survival is extremely challenging because cancer research often looks at multiple types of cancer and may include a large range of patients who underwent a variety of treatments. In addition, tumors that grow in the orbital area are incredibly rare and diverse. Consequently, there is relatively little research data and it is not possible to produce valid survival estimates for orbital cancers as a whole group. While each of the factors above contributes to one’s outcome, patients should have a discussion with their doctor to determine their overall prognosis.
