Fighting Two Cancers Simultaneously
- Actor Ned Eisenberg battled two cancers, cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma. He passed away in New York at age 65.
- Fighting two different cancers at once is not very common. But a 2019 article in the journal ONCOLOGY suggests that “the incidence of multiple primary cancers is increasing due to increased detection of early-stage cancers and advances in cancer treatment.”
- Ocular melanoma, also known as uveal or choroidal melanoma, is a rare disease, but is the most common eye cancer found in adults. Experts recommend having your eyes dilated every year to check for the disease.
- Cholangiocarcinoma also known as bile duct cancer, is a disease that develops in the slender tubes (bile ducts) that carry the digestive fluid bile and connect your liver to your gallbladder and small intestine. It is most common in people older than age 50, but it can occur at any age.
Eisenberg was a TV and movie star known for his roles as defense attorney Roger Kressler in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Detective Hauser on the crime show Mare of Easttown and Anthony Fanelli on the sitcom The Fanelli Boys, among others.
Read MoreNed Eisenberg dead: Law & Order SVU actor dies at 65 | https://t.co/2lxdeCKBfA
I started with Ned in 1990 on The Fanelli Boys.
Great actor.
A singular voice.
Always ready with a smile and a laugh.
A beautiful gentle human being.Chris Meloni (@Chris_Meloni) March 1, 2022
“I started with Ned in 1990 on The Fanelli Boys,” he wrote in a tweet. “Great actor. A singular voice. Always ready with a smile and a laugh. A beautiful gentle human being.”
His agents confirmed that the prolific actor passed away on Sunday at his home in New York. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Dunnock, and son, Lino Eisenberg.
Ned Eisenberg’s Cancer Journey
Eisenberg’s health battle involved two different types of cancer: cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma. In a touching statement from Eisenberg’s wife she said her husband faced his cancers with courage.
“As Ned would say, he was attacked by two very rare assassins cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma,” Dunnock said. “Over the course of two years, he bravely fought the cancers in private while continuing to work in show business to ensure that his medical coverage paid for himself and his family.”
The frequency of having more than one primary cancer, a term used to describe the original, or first, tumor in the body, at the same time or around the same time has been reported as varying between 2.4 and 17 percent, according to an article in the journal ONCOLOGY. Having two primary cancers is different than a cancer recurrence because a recurrence means the same cancer from the first diagnosis has returned after a period of time when the cancer could not be detected post-treatment.
Hence, it’s not very common to fight two separate cancer battles at once. That being said, the journal also reports “the incidence of multiple primary cancers is increasing due to increased detection of early-stage cancers and advances in cancer treatment.”
What Is Ocular Melanoma?
Ocular melanoma, also known as uveal or choroidal melanoma, is a rare disease, but is the most common eye cancer found in adults.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reports that approximately 2,500 adults are diagnosed with ocular melanoma each year. Their Ocular Melanoma Center also says most ocular melanomas can be difficult to detect because they occur in a part of the eye you can't see. But when symptoms do arise, they can appear as a dark spot on the iris or conjunctiva, blurred or distorted vision, a blind spot in your side vision or the sensation of flashing lights.
"In most cases, these are tumors that are detected upon a routine sight test by your optometrist or your ophthalmologist," Dr. Rizwan Haq, director of the Ocular Melanoma Center at Dana-Farber, said in a video. "Most patients do not experience symptoms when they have a diagnosis of ocular melanoma."
Even though the disease is rare, Dr. Sapna Patel, a melanoma oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet she recommends getting regular check-ups to monitor for uveal melanoma.
"Everyone should get dilated every year," she said. "There is an 'I get dilated' campaign, that started in the U.S., to try and inform the general public. Even if you don't need corrective lenses or glasses, contact lenses … it's still important to have your eyes dilated and examined for physical changes such as melanoma or moles in the eye."
The cause of ocular melanoma is uncertain at this point, but people with fair skin that burn easily are at a higher risk for developing the disease. That being said, there is no evidence that ocular melanoma is related to sun exposure unlike melanoma of the skin.
"Unfortunately, we don't know what causes uveal melanoma, which makes it even more important that everybody gets their eyes checked, because we don't know who is at risk for this disease," Dr. Patel told SurvivorNet.
What Is Cholangiocarcinoma?
Cholangiocarcinoma, also known as bile duct cancer, is a disease that develops in the slender tubes (bile ducts) that carry the digestive fluid bile and connect your liver to your gallbladder and small intestine.
Typically, the disease occurs in people older than age 50, though it can occur at any age. And, unfortunately, cholangiocarcinoma is often diagnosed at an advanced stage making it difficult to treat, but below are possible symptoms of the cancer to look out for.
- Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
- Intensely itchy skin
- White-colored stools
- Fatigue
- Abdominal pain on the right side, just below the ribs
- Losing weight without trying
- Fever
- Night sweats
- Dark urine
As always, these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have bile duct cancer, but it is important to always tell your doctor about any changes you’ve noticed to your health.
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