Multidisciplinary Management of Orbital Metastasis and Survival Outcomes

To study the multidisciplinary management and survival outcomes of orbital metastasis (OM).

All patients with a diagnosis of OM treated during 1999-2019 were included. Clinical data were retrospectively collected and analyzed.

The study included 118 patients, 71 females and 47 males, with a median age of 61 years. The most common primary tumor types were breast carcinoma (43 patients), melanoma (17), and lung (13), thyroid (7), renal cell (6), and neuroendocrine carcinoma (6). Ninety-six patients had a known history of cancer at OM diagnosis. The median time from diagnosis of primary cancer to OM was 31 months (range, 0-304). In 22 patients, OM was the first sign of cancer. In 47 patients, the orbit was the only site of metastasis. The most common presenting features were restricted by extraocular motility (77 patients) and proptosis (61). Eight patients had enophthalmos. OM was diagnosed based on clinical history and imaging studies in 81 patients and orbital biopsy in 37. One hundred nine patients were treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, 75 with radiation, and 21 with palliative surgical resection. Eighty-two patients died during follow up. The median overall survival (OS) time after diagnosis of OM was 17 months (95% CI: 12-28). OM from renal cell carcinoma was associated with the best and OM from thyroid cancer with the worst OS. Patients with breast cancer had longer median survival (28 months; 95% CI: 15-60) than patients with lung, melanoma, neuroendocrine, or thyroid cancer.

In this large series, breast cancer and melanoma were the most common causes of OM. Most patients had a known history of cancer at OM diagnosis and did not require orbital biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. Patients with renal cell carcinoma and breast carcinoma had the best prognosis after diagnosis of OM.