Table 1.
Review of cases with metastatic retinal cancer reported in the literature.
| Author/year | Sex | Age | Primary tumor | Location | Primary tumor known at eye diagnosis | The onset of eye findings (mo) | Diagnosis | Other known systemic metastasis | Ocular treatment | Follow-up | Clinical signs/pathologic findings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arisawa, 1914 [12] (cited by Kennedy et al., 1958 [20]) |
M | 30 | Pancreatic carcinoma | Diffuse | Yes | N/A | Autopsy? | N/A | N/A | N/A | Vitreous seeds, optic disc involvement |
| 2 | Smoleroff and Agatston, 1934 [18] (cited by Kennedy et al., 1958 [20]) |
M | 55 | Esophageal adenocarcinoma | Inferotemporal quadrant | Yes | N/A | Autopsy | Liver, lung, adrenal gland, spine | N/A | 1 mo, deceased | White irregular mass arising from nerve fiber layer, retinal and subretinal but no choroidal involvement |
| 3 | Kennedy et al., 1958 [20] | M | 51 | Rectosigmoid adenocarcinoma | Macula | No | 0 | Enucleation | Brain | Enucleation | 9 mo, deceased | Grayish white nodular lesion |
| 4 | Duke and Walsh, 1959 [16] (cited by Tang et al., 2019 [7]) |
F | 60 | Uterine adenocarcinoma | Macula | Yes | N/A | Enucleation | Brain | Enucleation | 6 mo, deceased | Vitreous seeds, elevated white mass |
| 5 | Koenig et al., 1960 [10] | M | 56 | Undifferentiated bronchogenic carcinoma | Temporal retina | No | 0 | Enucleation | N/A | Enucleation | 13 mo, deceased | Granulomatous uveitis, vitreous floaters, white mass with neovascularization, retinal and subretinal exudation, choroidal seeding |
| 6 | Flindall and Fleming, 1967 [25] | M | 68 | Unknown primary | Anterior to equator | No | N/A | Enucleation | N/A | Enucleation | 24 mo, alive | Vitreous seeds, veil-like retinal exudates inferiorly, optic disc involvement |
| 7 | Levy and de Venecia, 1970 [14] | M | 49 | Oat cell carcinoma of lung | Posterior pole | Yes | 10 | Autopsy | Widespread | Observation | 10 mo, deceased | Gross ophthalmic examination was normal; histopathology revealed anaplastic cells filling the lumens of retinal vessels, nerve fiber layer, and isolated choroid involvement |
| 8 | Klein et al., 1977 [8] | M | 52 | Squamous cell carcinoma of lung | Temporal macula OD, ERD OS | Yes | N/A | Autopsy | Widespread | Observation | 2 mo, deceased | White retinal infiltrate, retinal choroidal, and optic disc involvement |
| 9 | Young et al., 1979 [26] | M | 63 | Lung adenocarcinoma | Macula | Yes | 4 | VAB and autopsy | Brain, bone | External radiotherapy | 7 mo, deceased | Perivascular white infiltrates around optic disc, white macular mass |
| 10 | Piro et al., 1982 [17] | F | 56 | Breast carcinoma | Vitreous opacities OU | No | 0 | PPV and autopsy OD, autopsy OS | No | Observation | 12 mo, deceased | Uveitis, vitreous seeds, no retinal infiltration; histopathology showed solitary tumor cells in retina |
| 11 | Eagle, 1988 [27] (cited by Srivastava and Bergstrom, 2013 [28]) |
F | 53 | Unknown primary | Macula | No | 0 | VAB, retinal and choroidal biopsy | Brain, lung | N/A | 5 mo, deceased | Vitreous balls, white macular lesions with satellites, and vascular sheathing |
| 12 | Takagi et al., 1989 [19] | M | 45 | Adenocarcinoma of lung | Inferotemporal quadrant | Yes | 24 | Enucleation | Adrenal gland, rectum | Enucleation | 3 mo, deceased | Vitreous seeds, white exudates along the retinal veins, optic disc involvement, tumor cell emboli in central retinal vein |
| 13 | Leys et al., 1990 [29] | M | 49 | Oat cell carcinoma of lung | Temporal macula | Yes | 0 | Autopsy | Brain, kidney, liver | Observation | 1 mo, deceased | Vitreous seeds, ERD, partially obscured retinal arteriole |
| 14 | Striebel-Gerecke et al., 1992 [24] (cited by Srivastava and Bergstrom, 2013 [28]) |
F | 47 | Oat cell carcinoma of lung | Inferonasal quadrant | Yes | N/A | VAB, autopsy | Brain, liver, adrenal gland | N/A | 2.5 mo, deceased | White cone shape mass in vitreous, plaque like retinal infiltration |
| 15 | Tachinami et al., 1992 [30] (cited by Srivastava and Bergstrom, 2013 [28]) |
M | 61 | Rectal adenocarcinoma | Superior macula | Yes | N/A | Autopsy | Brain, lymph nodes | N/A | 5 mo, deceased | White retinal mass, ERD |
| 16 | Spraul et al., 1995 [31] | F | 74 | Muir-Torre syndrome/adenocarcinoma of lung or breast | Superotemporal quadrant | Yes | N/A | Enucleation | Lung | Enucleation | 10 mo, alive | Yellow-white tumor, shallow ERD, adenocarcinoma cells involving the retina |
| 17 | Cangiarella et al., 1996 [32] | F | 51 | Esophageal adenocarcinoma | Unknown | No | 0 | VAB | Lymph nodes | N/A | 4 mo, alive | Vitreous seeds, white retinal infiltrate, ERD |
| 18 | Hutchison et al., 2001 [33] (cited by Srivastava and Bergstrom, 2013 [28]) |
F | 63 | Colon adenocarcinoma | Superotemporal macula | Yes | N/A | N/A | Lung | N/A | 3 mo, alive | Pale elevated vascular lesion superotemporal to macula, ERD |
| 19 | Gupta et al., 2002 [13] | M | 46 | Oat cell carcinoma of lung | Juxtapapillary | No | 0 | Clinical | Skin, lymph nodes | Chemotherapy only | 1 mo, deceased | Pale elevated juxtapapillary lesion, necrosis, optic disc, retinal and choroidal involvement |
| 20 | Truong et al., 2002 [34] | F | 59 | Breast carcinoma | Temporal to fovea | Yes | 36 | Clinical | Brain, lung, liver | External radiotherapy | N/A | White retinal and subretinal mass, ERD |
| 21 | Saornil et al., 2004 [35] | M | 70 | Gastric adenocarcinoma | Juxtapapillary | Yes | 192 | Enucleation | Mediastinal lymph node | Enucleation | 23 mo, deceased | White retinal tumor, iris neovascularization (neovascular glaucoma), ERD |
| 22 | Apte et al., 2005 [23] | M | 39 | Cecal adenocarcinoma | Inferior macula | Yes | 3 | PPV, excisional biopsy | Liver, lung | External radiotherapy | 3 mo, alive | Vitreous seeds, ERD |
| 23 | Rossi et al., 2005 [36] | M | 41 | Non-small-cell lung carcinoma | Superotemporal macula OU | Yes | 6 | Clinical | Bone, brain | Chemotherapy only | 3 mo, deceased | White elevated retinal mass, ERD |
| 24 | Rundle and Rennie, 2006 [22] | F | 55 | Breast carcinoma | Temporal to fovea | Yes | 108 | Clinical | Lung | Photodynamic therapy | 2 mo, alive | White retinal mass, SRF |
| 25 | Sirimaharaj et al., 2006 [37] | F | 60 | Breast carcinoma | Nasal midperipheral retina | Yes | 36 | PPV | Spine, lung, brain | External radiotherapy | 8 mo, deceased | Vitreous cell clumps, white precipitates vascular sheathing |
| 26 | Alegret et al., 2009 [21] | M | 15 | Nasopharyngeal carcinoma | Inferotemporal arcade | Yes | 12 | Clinical | Lung | Chemotherapy only | N/A | White nodular lesion |
| 27 | Kim et al., 2010 [38] | F | 64 | Gastric adenocarcinoma | Macula OU, vitreous OD | Yes | 24 | PPV | Lung, liver, peritoneal | External radiotherapy | 1 mo, alive | Vitreous seeds, white nodular lesion |
| 28 | Coassin et al., 2011 [39] | F | 54 | Small cell lung carcinoma | Temporal macula | N/a | N/A | PPV, retinal biopsy | Brain | N/A | 7 mo, alive | Vitreous seeds, white retinal infiltrates |
| 29 | Payne et al., 2012 [40] | M | 62 | Small cell lung carcinoma | Temporal macula | N/a | N/A | VAB, retinal biopsy, PPV | N/A | External radiotherapy | 10 mo, alive | Vitreous haze, retinal whitening |
| 30 | Shields et al., 2014 [3] | F | 75 | Breast carcinoma | Inferotemporal quadrant | Yes | 103 | N/A | N/A | Observation | N/A | Yellow retinal mass, irregular contour, intrinsic hemorrhage, SRF |
| 31 | Shields et al., 2014 [3] | M | 56 | Esophageal adenocarcinoma | N/A | Yes | 26 | N/A | N/A | Observation | 1 mo, deceased | Retinal whitening, SRF |
| 32 | Shields et al., 2014 [3] | F | 58 | Breast carcinoma | N/A | Yes | 214 | N/A | N/A | Observation | 1 mo, deceased | Retinal whitening, SRF |
| 33 | Shields et al., 2014 [3] | F | 64 | Lung carcinoma | Temporal macula | Yes | 20 | Fine needle biopsy | N/A | Plaque radiotherapy | 4 mo, deceased | White retinal mass, vitreous seeds, intrinsic vascularity, vitreous hemorrhage |
| 34 | Taubenslag et al., 2015 [20] | M | 75 | Non-small-cell lung carcinoma | Superotemporal quadrant | No | 0 | PPV, retinal biopsy | No | External radiotherapy | 18 mo, alive | Branch retinal vein occlusion, SRF, vitreous cells, presumed optic disc involvement |
| 35 | Praidou et al., 2017 [41] | M | 70 | Hepatocholangio carcinoma | Inferotemporal arcade | Yes | 11 | PPV, retinal biopsy | Liver | Resection and chemotherapy | 12 mo, alive | Vitreous seeds, white retinal lesion, SRF |
| 36 | Essadi et al., 2017 [42] | M | 62 | Clear cell renal carcinoma | N/A | Yes | 28 | Clinical | Lung | Chemotherapy only | 4 mo, alive | Large retinal mass, retinal hemorrhage |
| 37 | Whalen et al., 2018 [9] | M | 55 | Bladder cancer | Inferonasal quadrant | Yes | 48 | PPV | No | External radiotherapy, enucleation | 23 mo, alive | Uveitis, pseudohypopyon, SRF, and satellite lesions |
| 38 | Mano et al., 2018 [43] | M | 69 | Esophageal adenocarcinoma | Macula and peripheral retina | Yes | N/A | PPV | Widespread | Antiviral treatment | 3 mo, deceased | Vitreous seeds, white infiltrates simulating acute retinal necrosis |
| 39 | Ramtohul et al., 2019 [44] | M | 51 | Colon adenocarcinoma | Superior macula | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6 mo N/A | Large vascularized retinal mass, retinal hemorrhage (initially), choroidal involvement (at 6 mo follow-up) |
| 40 | Jorge et al., 2020 [15] | F | 63 | Lung carcinoma | Juxtapapillary | No | 0 | Clinical | Liver | Chemotherapy only | 8 mo alive | Yellow retinal lesion |
M: male; F: female; N/A: not available; SRF: subretinal fluid; ERD: exudative retinal detachment; VAB: vitreous aspiration biopsy; PPV: pars plana vitrectomy; OD: right eye; OS: left eye; OU: both eyes; mo: month.