Medical therapy of retinoblastoma in children.

ABSTRACT

Retinoblastoma is the most common ocular tumour which occurs in infancy. Unfortunately, it is diagnosed only when the disease is in an advanced phase and the prognosis is decidedly unfavorable. Patients treated early, in the first stage of the disease can be cured with surgical and radiation treatment. For patients who are already in an advanced stage, the risk of metastatic dissemination is very high and therefore the introduction of chemotherapy, particularly vincristine and cyclophosphamide is believed to be useful. The authors report on their results obtained in patients with retinoblastoma who have been treated with combined surgical, radio- and chemotherapic treatment.