Bilateral sporadic retinoblastoma in a child born after in vitro fertilization.
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Retinoblastoma is a rare malignant tumour of the developing retina with an incidence of 1 in 20,000 live births in all human races. Chemotherapy is used in retinoblastoma as adjuvant therapy to prevent the growth of metastases and to treat metastatic disease once this has become clinically apparent. Current regimens are based on empirical drug combinations, and few clinical trials have been conducted because of the rarity of this tumour. Chemosensitivity testing offers a way of testing a large number of agents against tumours. The ATP-based chemosensitivity assay (ATP-TCA) has already helped to design new regimens for melanoma and breast and ovarian cancer. Primary retinoblastoma tumour material was obtained from 10 eyes, 7 of which contained sufficient viable cells for ATP-TCA. The results show very high sensitivity to single agents, particularly cisplatin, doxorubicin and vinca aLkaloids. Of the anti-metabolites tested, 5-FU is relatively disappointing (although still active), and gemcitabine shows considerable activity consistent with a cytotoxic effect. The shape of the inhibition curves is interesting. There is a plateau effect with the topoisomerase inhibitors and vinblastine, which is not present with the cisplatin. One tumour was much more resistant than the others tested, particularly to vinblastine but also to the topoisomerase inhibitors, which failed to achieve complete kill at any concentration tested, consistent with a multidrug resistance phenotype. Of the combinations (VAC and VEC), the VAC regimen looks marginally more active in the more resistant of the two cases tested to date. These data confirm that retinoblastoma is a rapidly growing malignancy that is very susceptible to cytotoxic drugs of all types. Chemosensitivity testing provides a practical method of testing new regimens before clinical trials in retinoblastoma patients.
The purpose of this retrospective study is to investigate the influence of 45 Gy megavoltage external beam radiotherapy on the occurrence of second primary tumours in hereditary- and non-hereditary retinoblastoma patients. Eighty-seven hereditary and 19 non-hereditary patients were irradiated for retinoblastoma. The follow-up of the hereditary patients ranged from 4-23 years (mean 12.4 years), of the non-hereditary patients from 6-23 years (mean 12 years). In the hereditary group 4 patients developed a second primary tumour (2 rhabdomyosarcoma, 1 osteosarcoma, 1 malignant histiocytoma), and 5 patients developed a pineoblastoma. Three second primary tumours were situated inside the radiation field. The latency period ranged from 1.5 to 18 years (mean 4.8 years). None of the non-hereditary patients developed a second primary tumour. The actuarially calculated probability of being free from second primary tumours was 96.9% at 10 years and 89.4% at 20 years (pineoblastoma excluded). The survival was 91.2% at 10 years and 84.2% at 20 years (pineoblastoma excluded). From this study it is suggested that external beam irradiation has a potentiating effect in patients, with the genetic predispopsition for retinoblastoma and who are more susceptible to second primary malignancies.
PURPOSE: To describe a case of an unusual presentation of systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with clinical and histopathologic findings closely resembling that of primary intraocular lymphoma. DESIGN: Observational case report. METHODS: A 58-year-old woman with a history of treated systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presented 2 years later with a subretinal lesion and intraocular inflammation in her left eye. RESULTS: Diagnostic enucleation and histopathologic studies revealed findings consistent with primary intraocular lymphoma including intraretinal, subretinal, and subretinal pigment epithelial tumor cells without involvement of the choroid. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that systemic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can present remotely with findings resembling primary intraocular lymphoma and should be included in the differential diagnosis of intraocular inflammation and subretinal infiltrates.
AIMS: Chemotherapy with aggressive focal ablative therapy is now the mainstay of retinoblastoma therapy. Our experience presents an evolution from conventional radiotherapy by treating posterior pole tumours with focal stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy (SRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted of five patients (six eyes) treated with SRT at the Hospital for Sick Children and Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada, between 1999 and 2004. The prescribed dose was 40 Gy delivered in 20 fractions once daily using 6 MV photons. RESULTS: Five patients (six eyes) were treated. The median age at the time of SRT was 18 months. The median follow-up was 46.5 months as of September 2004. Four patients were treated for a posterior pole focal tumour by focal SRT, and one patient was treated for vitreous seeding with whole-eye SRT. In patients treated with focal SRT, the median doses to the tumour, optic chiasm and brainstem were 41.92, 0.25 and 0.07 Gy, respectively, and to the ipsilateral optic nerve, globe and lens were 9.98, 19.11 and 3.74 Gy, respectively. The median doses to the ipsilateral and contralateral orbital bone were 6.73 Gy (range 5.99-8.29 Gy) and 2.31 Gy (range 0.88-7.08 Gy), respectively. A complete response (residual inactive scar tissue) was seen in four of the five focal tumours treated, with one tumour responding with a partial response (suspicious residual scar tissue). No acute or late side-effects occurred in patients treated with focal SRT. Only the patient treated with whole-eye SRT developed late effects of cataract and corneal ulceration. One patient suffered recurrence within the radiation field 5 months after focal SRT. Control of this recurrence was successful using chemotherapy and focal therapy. No eye has been enucleated. CONCLUSION: Vision-sparing focal SRT for localised tumour masses in critical locations can control tumours with minimal side-effects and a minimal dose to the surrounding critical normal tissue.
Trilateral retinoblastoma (TRb) is a syndrome involving midline intracranial malignancies in children with the heritable form of retinoblastoma. All cases of TRb reported from 1971 to 1997 were reviewed. The histopathologic findings, clinical features, treatment modalities, and survival rates from 80 cases were evaluated. Histopathologic findings from intracranial malignancies demonstrated primitive neuroectodermal tumors in 61.5% of cases. Various degrees of neuronal or photoreceptor differentiation were seen in the other 38.5% of cases. Autopsy, histopathologic, and radiologic examinations did not show a more definitive site of origin of these intracranial tumors, although "pinealoblastoma" was often the diagnosis reported. These findings, together with analysis of the histopathologic similarities among human primitive neuroectodermal tumors, pinealoblastoma, retinoblastoma, and ependymoblastoma, suggest that TRb more likely arises from a germinal layer of predisposed primitive subependymal neuroblasts that are not necessarily destined for pineal or photoreceptor differentiation. Trilateral tumors have also been found in transgenic mice expressing the simian virus 40 T-antigen. Transgenic murine intracranial tumors are primitive neuroectodermal tumors arising from the subependymal layer. Transgenic mice with the murine interphotoreceptor cell binding protein promoter and simian virus 40 T-antigen also develop pineal tumors. Trilateral retinoblastoma is usually fatal, with an average survival time of 11.2 months. Therapies include radiation, systemic chemotherapy, intrathecal chemotherapy, and surgical resection/craniotomy in combination with radiation and/or chemotherapy. Survival may be prolonged with combination chemotherapy (24.6 months) and if neuroradiologic screening identifies TRb before symptoms are present (23.5 months). Recent success with platinum-based chemoreduction of intraocular retinoblastoma may indicate a similar role for platinum-based chemotherapy in the treatment of TRb. Routine central nervous system imaging should be considered in the management of TRb.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship in bilateral retinoblastoma survivors between the incidence of second tumors and the age when external beam radiation (EBR) was used. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma was performed by examining records for background information and treatment information as well as reviewing documentation of patients with second nonocular tumors. Two telephone interviews were conducted for follow-up as well as inquiries directed to tumor registries and state databases. PARTICIPANTS: The original study included 1729 patients treated in New York and Boston; the current study includes only the 1506 patients treated in New York. Of those, 816 patients were diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, had sufficient treatment data to be useful, and survived at least 1 year from diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The subjects were observed for evidence of the development of second nonocular tumors. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in tumor-free survival among patients treated with EBR before the age of 12 months, but no significant difference between the group treated with EBR after the age of 12 months and the group not treated with EBR. For tumors in the field of radiation, patients treated with early EBR showed a significant decrease in tumor-free survival when compared to patients treated with late EBR, with no significant difference between late radiation and no radiation. There were no significant differences between groups for tumors out of the field of radiation. Significant differences attributable to the use of EBR were found only for tumors of the skull and face bones and for tumors of the soft tissue of the head. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term effect of radiation treatment on survivors of bilateral retinoblastoma is to increase the incidence and affect the distribution of second tumors. However, no increased risk is observed for tumors out of the field of radiation among patients who underwent radiation, and the risk for tumors in the field of radiation is heavily dependent on the age at which EBR is given and may be acceptably small to the patient after the age of 12 months.
We report an unusual case of a two-year-old girl with metastatic retinoblastoma and massive bone marrow involvement who showed the overt presence of circulating retinoblastoma cells in peripheral blood smears a few days before death. This extended disease developed after an early relapse that followed abandoned primary chemotherapy. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous reports about the presence of circulating retinoblastoma cells in peripheral blood films. We conclude that the search for bone marrow invasion in patients with disseminated retinoblastoma should be exhaustive to achieve an accurate staging assessment. Peripheral blood smears should be examined cautiously to detect occasional circulating retinoblastoma cells when the bone marrow is massively involved.
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Primary intraocular lymphoma (PIOL) is a variant of primary central nervous system lymphoma in which lymphoma cells are initially present only in the eyes without evidence of disease in the brain or cerebrospinal fluid. Patients with PIOL are typically older adults who present with blurred vision and floaters. The ophthalmic examination characteristically shows a cellular infiltrate in the vitreous with or without the presence of subretinal infiltrates. Diagnostic evaluation for PIOL includes neuroimaging, cytologic examination of the cerebrospinal fluid, and a diagnostic vitrectomy with special handling of the vitreous specimen, if the former is nondiagnostic. Molecular and cytokine analyses are useful adjuncts to cytology for the diagnosis of PIOL. Recent molecular studies demonstrating viral DNA in the ocular lymphoma cells suggest a role for infectious agents in the pathogenesis of PIOL. To date, the best mode for treatment of PIOL or recurrent primary central nervous system lymphoma involving only the eyes remains undefined.
BACKGROUND: Bone marrow involvement in retinoblastoma patients is rare in the more industrialized nations. The purpose of the current study was to determine the frequency of bone marrow involvement in our series of retinoblastoma patients and to investigate whether the use of four bone marrow aspirates (BMA) and two bone marrow biopsies (BMB) has greater sensitivity for the detection of metastatic disease compared to what has been previously reported. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the charts of 54 patients with retinoblastoma was performed. We performed 265 BMA, 134 BMB (4 aspirates and 2 biopsies per evaluation), and 67 lumbar punctures (LPs) in 54 patients with retinoblastoma. RESULTS: There were no patients found with bone marrow or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) involvement at the time of the initial diagnosis. Although no patient died of distant metastases, two patients developed metastatic disease at recurrence, involving the bone marrow and other sites. For these two patients all four aspirates and two biopsies were positive for disease at the time of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the use of four BMA and two BMB (as opposed to one bone marrow aspirate that is routinely performed in other centers), the detection of patients with metastatic disease was similar to what has been previously reported. Based on these data more aggressive evaluation of the bone marrow in retinoblastoma patients with clinically limited disease using four aspirates and two biopsies cannot be supported.
BACKGROUND: The effective-dose method which was proposed by the ICRP (International Commission of Radiation Protection) for the estimation of risk to the general population from occupational or environmental, low-dose radiation exposure is not adequate for estimating the risk of cancer induction by radiotherapy of malignant or nonmalignant diseases. METHODS: The risk of cancer induction by radiotherapy of benign diseases should be based on epidemiologic data directly derived from follow-up studies of patients who had been given radiotherapy for nonmalignant diseases in the past. RESULTS: Risk factors were derived from epidemiologic studies of patients treated with irradiation for nonmalignant diseases to be used for selecting treatment options and optimizing treatment procedures. CONCLUSION: In most cases, cancer risks estimated by the effective-dose method may overestimate the true risks by one order of magnitude, yet in other cases even may underestimate it. The proposed method using organ-specific risk factors may be more suitable for treatment planning.
In this study, the importance of angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels from existing ones) for the growth of retinoblastoma was investigated by a retrospective immunohistochemical analysis. An individual vessel index for each tumor was determined using the endothelial-specific antibody CD 31 for vessel staining. The obtained data were correlated with clinical features, pathohistological characteristics, and the presence of metastasis. In 107 retinoblastomas collected between 1980 and 1990, we found no difference in the vessel densities between uni- and bilateral retinoblastomas (P = 0.41). However, tumors that had invaded the chorioid and/or the optic nerve statistically showed higher vessel densities than tumors without local invasive growth (P = 0.05 and P = 0.024). A tendency of higher vessel densities in retinoblastomas presenting with metastasis at the time of diagnosis was observed (P = 0.11). Based on this observation, we proceeded to examine all retinoblastomas presenting with metastasis at the time of diagnosis. These included patients that were treated between 1968 and 1993. The 18 investigated retinoblastomas had significantly higher vessel densities than all other retinoblastomas presenting without metastasis (P = 0.025). Our data indicate that in retinoblastoma, blood vessels are essential for local and systemic invasive growth. Therefore, an anti-angiogenic therapy could be considered in the multimodal therapy concept for retinoblastomas with invasive growth, both locally and systemically.