David H. Abramson, MD

I have had extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers in and around the eye. These cancers are all rare and are usually diagnosed without biopsy, so experience is very important in arriving at the correct diagnosis every time. To help make a diagnosis we use the latest in diagnostic digital imaging and ultrasound, including standardized A and B scan, in addition to high frequency anterior segment ultrasound (“ultrasonic biomicroscopy,” or UBM), OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography), digital imaging and needle biopsy when indicated.

The most common cancer we see is melanoma in the eye, also known as ocular melanoma. We offer the most sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic option for these cancers, including brachytherapy (radioactive material sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters is placed directly into or near a tumor) with radioactive iodine and ruthenium. Our medical physicists and brachytherapy team are internationally respected for their expertise in delivering individually designed treatment for each patient. In collaboration with Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s melanoma team, we are now offering a Phase II trial for the first targeted molecule in the treatment of melanoma of the eye (uveal melanoma) that has spread, or metastasized, to another part of the body.

Our retinoblastoma center, with records that go back to 1914, is the longest continually operating center of its kind in the world, with the longest follow-up of the largest number of patients. We have a newly-constructed examination suite dedicated to caring for children with retinoblastoma, which has all the modern equipment used to diagnose and treat retinoblastoma.

I have introduced many new treatments for retinoblastoma that have been adopted by other cancer hospitals worldwide. These treatments include the novel use of chemotherapy delivered around the eye to prevent systemic toxicity of intravenous medication; and in 2006, the use of high concentration — but low dose — chemotherapy delivered directly into the eye via a catheter placed in the groin, administered on an outpatient basis. Our studies on the long-term complications in this disease have been published extensively in the Journal of the American Medical Association as well as ophthalmic and oncology journals.

I have published more than 400 books, chapters, original articles, scientific reviews, audiotapes, and videotapes, and I was the editor of the American Academy's instruction book on ophthalmic oncology. I have delivered more than 400 lectures worldwide, including in France, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, China, Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina.

Among the many honors I have received are awards from the Swiss Ophthalmological Society, The Association for Research in Vision, the Helen Keller Society, and the New York State Ophthalmological Society. I have received many teaching awards, and I have received the Honor Award, the Senior Honor Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.