Medpedia

• Retinoblastoma

Inclusion Criteria:
-  Advanced retinoblastoma in one or both eyes
-  Recurrent retinoblastoma after failure of previous treatment
-  No age limit (usually kids presenting with retinoblastoma present in the 1st two
decades of life)
-  Judged by principal investigator to be medically and physically able to undergo the
procedure
Exclusion Criteria:
-  Recurrent retinoblastoma which is treatable with other conservative measures
-  Invasive retinoblastoma (retinoblastoma that has grown locally outside of the eye,
for example, into the bone  around the eye)

The management of retinoblastoma includes systemic chemotherapy (carboplatin, etoposide, and
vincristine), thermotherapy, cryotherapy (freezing treatment), laser photocoagulation,
plaque radiotherapy, external beam radiotherapy, and enucleation.  The treatment is tailored
to each individual case. Over the past 15 years, intravenous chemotherapy has risen as the
most popular conservative (eye-saving) method for retinoblastoma management because it is
effective and safe. In recent years, there has been keen interest in providing chemotherapy
more focally to a diseased organ including the liver, brain, and eye. The benefit of focal
chemotherapy delivery is to avoid toxicity to other organs and this toxicity includes the
risk of future cancers.

• Drug: Melphalan, Carboplatin
  intra-arterial chemotherapy

• Tumor control
  after 5 cycles of chemotherapy
  Safety Issue: Yes

• Carol L Shields, MD
  Principal Investigator, Oncology Service, Wills Eye Institute

• Oncology Service, Wills Eye Institute
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107, United States
  Recruiting
  Carol L Shields, MD

  (215) 928-3105

  carol.shields@shieldsoncology.com

  Investigators

  • Carol L Shields, MD
    Principal Investigator

• Wills Eye
  Lead Sponsor
• United States: Food and Drug Administration