Conjunctival Melanoma
Disease Description and Clinical Picture
Melanoma is a malignant and very aggressive neoplasm of melanocytes and can develop on the conjunctiva of dogs and cats. Melanocytoma (benign tumor of melanocytes) is extremely rare on the conjunctiva. Conjunctival melanoma is most commonly found on the conjunctiva of the third eyelid, followed by the bulbar conjunctiva. Melanoma is a locally aggressive tumor and can metastasize. This neoplasm can be pigmented or unpigmented (amelanotic melanoma). It most frequently occurs in middle-aged and older dogs. 
Therapy
The diagnosis is made through histopathological examination of the neoplasm. Due to its metastatic potential, an aspirate of local lymph nodes should be examined, along with radiography, MRI, and CT scans. Surgical removal of the tumor is necessary, and if it is highly invasive, enucleation is performed. Surgical excision is usually combined with cryotherapy (freezing of the affected tissue remnants to destroy any pigmented tumor cells) and can be combined with local injections of the chemotherapeutic agent in the region where the tumor excision was performed.
 
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