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Addition of intravitreal chemotherapy boosts salvage rate in retinoblastoma
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The addition of intravitreal chemotherapy to strategies for treating retinoblastoma represents an improvement in management of the disease, according to a study.
Researchers included 66 eyes of 66 patients with unilateral retinoblastoma from two treatment eras. Era I (27 eyes) included patients treated with intra-arterial chemotherapy alone in the period 2008 to 2012, and era II (39 eyes) included patients treated with intra-arterial chemotherapy plus intravitreal chemotherapy, as needed to address vitreous seed activity, in the period 2012 to 2015. Only seven patients in the era II group were deemed to need treatment with the intravitreal chemotherapy.
The two cohorts did not have significant differences in International Classification of Retinoblastoma (ICRB), mean largest tumor diameter or mean largest tumor thickness.
The difference in the need for enucleation was significant between the two groups, with 44% of era I patients requiring enucleation compared with 15% of era II patients (P = .012).
“Of the eyes with unilateral sporadic retinoblastoma, the combination of intra-arterial chemotherapy plus intravitreal chemotherapy (as needed) provides significantly more tumor control with only a 15% enucleation rate compared to eyes treated with intra-arterial chemotherapy alone without the benefit of intravitreal chemotherapy, where 44% (P = .012) required subsequent enucleation,” researchers wrote in the study.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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Shields CL, et al. J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2016;doi:10.3928/01913913-20160719-04.
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