Risk Factors for Eye Cancer

There are a few known risk factors for eye cancer, particularly melanoma of the eye (also known as ocular melanoma or intraocular melanoma).

What is a risk factor?

A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. Some risk factors, like smoking, can be changed. Others, like a person’s age or family history, can’t be changed.

But having a known risk factor, or even several risk factors, does not mean that you will get the disease. And many people who get the disease may have few or no known risk factors.

Skin color

The risk of eye melanoma is higher in people with lighter colored skin (and who sunburn or freckle easily) than in people with darker skin tones.

Eye color

People with light colored eyes are somewhat more likely to develop melanoma of the eye than are people with darker eye color.

Age and sex

Eye melanomas can occur at any age, but the risk goes up as people get older.

Eye melanoma is slightly more common in men than in women.

Dysplastic nevus syndrome (atypical mole syndrome)

People with this inherited condition have many abnormal moles (dysplastic nevi) on their skin. If at least one close relative has had melanoma, this condition is referred to as familial atypical multiple mole and melanoma (FAMMM) syndrome.

People with this syndrome are at increased risk of skin melanoma. They also seem to have a higher risk of developing melanoma of the eye.

BAP1 cancer syndrome (BAP1 tumor predisposition syndrome)

This is a rare inherited condition in which family members are at increased risk for eye melanoma, as well as melanoma of the skin, mesothelioma, kidney cancer, and some other cancers.

This condition is caused by an inherited mutation (change) in the BAP1 gene. Cancers linked with this syndrome tend to be aggressive and often appear at younger ages.

Moles and pigmented areas in the eye

Different types of moles (nevi) and pigmented areas in the eye have been linked with an increased risk of eye melanoma. These include choroidal, giant choroidal, and iris nevi, as well as ocular dermal melanocytosis (nevus of Ota).

An eye condition known as primary acquired melanosis (PAM), where the melanocytes in the eye grow too much, is a risk factor for conjunctival melanoma.

Working as a welder

Welders, who can be exposed to intense ultraviolet (UV) light when they work, have been found to have a higher risk of eye melanoma.

Unproven risk factors

Sun exposure: Too much exposure to UV light from sunlight (or sunlamps) is a known risk factor for melanoma of the skin. It has also been suggested as a possible risk factor for melanoma of the eye, but studies so far have shown mixed results. More research is needed to answer this question, but if there is an increased risk, it is likely to be small.

Skin melanoma: Some people with eye melanoma have a history of melanoma of the skin, but it’s not clear if having skin melanoma increases your risk of eye melanoma.