Standard treatment options
Treatment options under clinical evaluation
Current Clinical Trials

Few patients with retinoblastoma present with extraocular disease. Extraocular disease may be localized to the soft tissues surrounding the eye or to the optic nerve beyond the margin of resection. However, further extension may occur into the brain and meninges with subsequent seeding of the spinal fluid, as well as distant metastatic disease involving the lungs, bones, and bone marrow. In patients with the genetic form of retinoblastoma, central nervous system (CNS) disease is less likely the result of metastatic or regional spread than a primary intracranial focus, such as a pineal tumor. Early diagnosis may be helpful; it has been recommended that cranial computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging be done twice a year until age 5 years for those who carry the gene (bilateral and unilateral heritable cases).

There is no clearly proven effective or standard therapy for the treatment of extraocular retinoblastoma, although orbital irradiation and chemotherapy have been used. In the past, palliative therapy with radiation (including craniospinal irradiation when there is meningeal involvement) and/or intrathecal chemotherapy with methotrexate, cytarabine, and hydrocortisone, plus supportive care has been used.[1]

1. With emerging dose-intensive chemotherapy regimens and the use of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue, clinical trials are ongoing to improve the dismal outcome for this relatively small group of patients. The agents used in the past included vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin; although they produce an initial response, overall survival has been less than optimal. Carboplatin, ifosfamide, and etoposide have shown more promise for remission and may be used in conjunction with high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell rescue.[2-4] Patients presenting with extensive non-CNS metastases have been treated successfully with myeloablative chemotherapy with stem cell rescue.[4-7]

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with extraocular retinoblastoma ¹. The list of clinical trials can be further narrowed by location, drug, intervention, and other criteria.

General information about clinical trials is also available from the NCI Web site ².

References

1. Rootman J, Hofbauer J, Ellsworth RM, et al.: Invasion of the optic nerve by retinoblastoma: a clinicopathological study. Can J Ophthalmol 11 (2): 106-14, 1976.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
2. Namouni F, Doz F, Tanguy ML, et al.: High-dose chemotherapy with carboplatin, etoposide and cyclophosphamide followed by a haematopoietic stem cell rescue in patients with high-risk retinoblastoma: a SFOP and SFGM study. Eur J Cancer 33 (14): 2368-75, 1997.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
3. Kremens B, Wieland R, Reinhard H, et al.: High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue in children with retinoblastoma. Bone Marrow Transplant 31 (4): 281-4, 2003.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
4. Rodriguez-Galindo C, Wilson MW, Haik BG, et al.: Treatment of metastatic retinoblastoma. Ophthalmology 110 (6): 1237-40, 2003.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
5. Dunkel IJ, Aledo A, Kernan NA, et al.: Successful treatment of metastatic retinoblastoma. Cancer 89 (10): 2117-21, 2000.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
6. Matsubara H, Makimoto A, Higa T, et al.: A multidisciplinary treatment strategy that includes high-dose chemotherapy for metastatic retinoblastoma without CNS involvement. Bone Marrow Transplant 35 (8): 763-6, 2005.  [PUBMED Abstract]
   
   
7. Jubran RF, Erdreich-Epstein A, Butturini A, et al.: Approaches to treatment for extraocular retinoblastoma: Children's Hospital Los Angeles experience. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 26 (1): 31-4, 2004.  [PUBMED Abstract]