Infrared thermotherapy: from laboratory to clinic.

Thermotherapy by the transpupillary route is an effective outpatient eye-salvaging therapy for intraocular tumors. It does not require surgery, it can be repeated, and it does not affect the healthy structures of the eye. Thermotherapy by the transscleral route is under investigation and may have potential in the treatment of choroidal melanomas. The indications for chemoreduction, thermochemotherapy, and thermotherapy for retinoblastoma remain under investigation.