Treatment Options for Retinoblastoma

Intraocular Retinoblastoma
Extraocular Retinoblastoma
Recurrent Retinoblastoma

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

If the cancer is in one or both eyes and it is expected that vision can be saved, treatment may include one or more of the following:

• External-beam radiation therapy or plaque radiotherapy.
• Cryotherapy.
• Thermotherapy.
• Chemotherapy (chemoreduction).
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy using more than one anticancer drug.
• A clinical trial of intensity-modulated radiation therapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, or proton beam radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of ophthalmic arterial infusion therapy.

For large tumors in one or both eyes, treatment may include the following:

• Enucleation. Chemotherapy may be given to shrink the tumor before surgery or after surgery to lower the risk that the cancer will spread to other parts of the body.

Other treatments for cancer in both eyes include the following:

• Chemotherapy (chemoreduction) followed by local treatment such as cryotherapy, thermotherapy, or plaque radiotherapy. This may be done if there is a chance to save vision in both eyes.
• A clinical trial of subtenon chemotherapy combined with systemic chemotherapy and local treatment.
• A clinical trial of new combinations of chemotherapy and other treatments to the eye.
• A clinical trial of gene therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with intraocular retinoblastoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

There is no standard treatment for extraocular retinoblastoma. Treatment may include combinations of the following:

• Chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Surgery.

For retinoblastoma that has spread to the area around the eye, treatment may be the following:

• Systemic chemotherapy followed by surgery (enucleation). More chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be given after surgery.

For retinoblastoma that has spread to the brain, treatment may be the following:

• Chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy to the brain and spinal cord.

For trilateral retinoblastoma, treatment may include the following:

• Chemotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue.

For retinoblastoma that has spread to other parts of the body, treatment may be the following:

• High-dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue.
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue and/or radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with extraocular retinoblastoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

If the cancer is small and in the eye only, treatment is usually local therapy, which may include the following:

• Plaque radiotherapy.
• Cryotherapy.
• Thermotherapy.
• A clinical trial of subtenon chemotherapy.

If the cancer around the eye is large and the eye has been removed, treatment is usually the following:

• Chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy.

If the cancer comes back outside of the eye, treatment will depend on many things and may be within a clinical trial, which may be the following:

• Chemotherapy combined with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue with radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with recurrent retinoblastoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.