Radiation Therapy in the Management of Retinoblastoma

Looking back to inform the future: Lesson learned from survivors of childhood cancer

“…Contemporary retinoblastoma therapy is designed to avoid or delay the use of radiotherapy because it is reserved mainly as salvage therapy for patients whose eyes have failed chemotherapy or focal treatments . Moreover, the use of brachytherapy and more targeted external‐beam techniques have minimized radiation exposure to healthy orbital and nonorbital tissue, potentially decreasing the risk of complications such as radiation‐associated hearing loss or thyroid abnormalities . The use of focal therapies (eg, photocoagulation, cryotherapy), in conjunction with systemic chemotherapy has contributed to an overall decline in the number of enucleations performed in patients with unilateral disease, and has helped to preserve vision in a subset of patients with bilateral disease in whom 1 eye has the potential for vision .…”