[The eye and cancer]

Cancer involves so rarely the eye that it may be recognized late. The most frequent primary intra-ocular tumours are retinoblastoma in small children and uveal melanoma in adults. Vision loss in systemic cancer has a varied differential diagnosis. Uveal metastases are most often associated with breast cancer, but can herald lung carcinoma. Masquerade syndrome looks like inflammation but represents the ocular involvement of primary CNS non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Systemic cancer drugs, as well as radiotherapy, can cause ocular toxicity, mostly at the retina. In the rare paraneoplastic syndromes, patient's cancer antibodies cross-react with retinal antigens, leading to severe vision loss. When cancer involves the eye, a fast referral into specialized care can significantly improve visual and vital prognosis.