Excision, cryotherapy and mitomycin c for the treatment of conjunctival-corneal intraepithelial neoplasia

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of three different techniques for the treatment of conjunctival-corneal intraepithelial neoplasia. Methods: Twenty-six eyes of 26 patients, 11 women and 15 men were included in a nonrandomized, retrospective, observational case series. Mean patient age was 64 years (range, 32-88 years).All patients were treated from 1999 to 2014. Mean postoperative follow-up was 4 years (range, 3 months to 14 years). All patients underwent excision of the lesion with a 4-mm safety margin and a 2-mm from the limbus cryotherapy. As further treatment the patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 (8 eyes): conjunctival autograft and 2 cycles of mitomycin C 0.02% (MMC) eye drops, four times daily for 10 days with an interval of 30 days between cycles. Group 2 (9 eyes): amniotic membrane (AM) graft and 3 cycles of MMC eye drops, three times daily for 10 days with an interval of 10 days between the 1st and 2nd cycle and 30 days between the 2nd and 3rd cycle. Group 3 (9 eyes): AM graft without MMC eye drops. Results: After a single treatment, the lesions were eradicated in twenty-three patients. Recurrence was noted in three patients from Group 3 at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after treatment. Two of them were retreated by the technique used in Group 1 without further recurrence; the other patient underwent enucleation. No adverse effects related to the use of mitomycin C were observed during. There were no side effects related to the use of mitomycin C during follow-up. Conclusion: After surgical excision and cryotherapy, patients treated with conjunctival or amniotic membrane graft associated with mitomycin C, showed a tendency to more effective results.