If your GP or optician (optometrist) suspects you have a serious problem with your eyes, they will refer you to a specialist eye doctor called an ophthalmologist for an assessment.
If they suspect you have melanoma of the eye, they'll refer you to a specialist centre for eye cancer. There are four centres in the UK, located in London, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
It's likely you'll have a number of different tests at the centre, including:
an eye examination – to look at the structures of your eyes in more detail and check for abnormalities
an ultrasound scan of your eye – a small probe placed over your closed eye uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the inside of your eye; this allows your doctor to find out more about the position of the tumour and its size
a fluorescein angiogram – where photographs of the suspected cancer are taken using a special camera after dye has been injected into your bloodstream to highlight the tumour
Occasionally, a thin needle may be used to remove a small sample of cells from the tumour (biopsy). The genetic information in these cells is analysed to give an indication of the chances of the cancer spreading or coming back.