A 94-year-old Stuart resident has been riding to Palm Beach Gardens once monthly for clinical trials that have led to a breakthrough treatment for wet macular degeneration.

Marian Monroe, widow of singer, trumpeter and big band leader Vaughn Monroe, is one of about 150 Retina Care Specialists patients from Boca Raton through Sebastian who participated in the Lucentis study.

"I play bridge," Monroe, a Martin Memorial Hospital volunteer, said Thursday. "I still can see. (And) I'm hopeful - not for a complete cure, but that (my vision loss) will not progress."

The Food & Drug Administration approved Lucentis on June 30, after Retina Care Specialists and 55 other centers throughout the country performed the studies on 5,000-plus patients.

"We've seen wonderful things with it," Retina Care Specialists Technician Belinda Antolini said.

Monroe, who was referred to Retina Care Specialists after her vision became blurred and words like "test" appeared to read "task," received her third treatment this week.

Macular degeneration affects the central vision and is a leading cause of blindness in individuals over age 55. The wet variety of the disease progresses more rapidly than its dry counterpart, Retina Care Specialists Dr. Adrian Laviña said.

Lucentis is applied via an injection to the eye, blocking a chemical that makes abnormal blood vessels grow and leak, causing wet macular degeneration.

"It's the first treatment show to, on average, improve vision rather than slow the progression of macular degeneration," Laviña said.

About 95 percent of patients treated in the study maintained their vision and as many as 40 percent saw an improvement within a year, according to a news release citing the FDA's basis for approval.

The most common side effects included red eye, eye pain and small specks in vision, according to lucentis.com. Serious side effects, though rare, include eye infection, detached retina, cataract, inner eye inflammation and increased pressure inside the eye, the Web site reports.

Those who have been afflicted with wet macular degeneration for years do not respond as well as others, because of scarring that occurs over time, Laviña said.

"Most patients require repeated treatments, because the drug lasts so long," he said. "It's just a matter of frequency."

The drug costs $1,950 per injection, according to Megan Pace, spokeswoman for Genentech, the drug's San Francisco-based manufacturer. Laviña estimates patients need at least 7 treatments a year. He expects Medicare will cover most of the cost and that other insurance providers will follow suit.

Genentech also has "access to care" programs that provide the drug free to uninsured patients who qualify, Pace said.