Retinoblastoma

A Retinoblastoma is a rare form of eye cancer. There are a number of signs of a Retinoblastoma, these include an unusual white reflection of the eye, which is apparent in ohotos when a camera flash is used, (in a normal, healthy eye, the eye may typically appear red when exposed to a camera flash) or when it is noticed in a dark room, the eye may appear red and inflamed, a colour change in the iris, inability to focus objects (vision is poor), lack of control in terms of eye movement (this is typically when both eyes are affected by Retinoblastoma), a squint may also be present in a patient with a Retinoblastoma. Retinoblastoma is cancer of the retina (the light sensitive layer located at the inferior of the eye). Retinoblastoma usually affects young children under the age of 5, during the premature stages of a baby's development, the cells that form the retina develop rapidly and then stop developing, rarely, one or more of these cells grow continuously and form a Retinoblastoma. In some cases, A Retinoblastoma may be caused by a defected gene, this may be inherited from a parent or in other cases a gene mutation may occur in the early stages of the child's development within the womb. The cause of the remaining 60% of Retinoblastoma cases is unknown, in these cases where the cause of the condition is unknown, there is no faulty gene present and typically one eye is affected. Retinoblastoma can either be extraocular (where the retinoblastoma spreads beyond the eye to the tissue surrounding the eye) or intraocular (where the cancer is limited to within the eye), usually, Retinoblastoma is identified prematurely and treatment is typically successful - this avoids it from spreading outside the eye and becoming extraocular. Extraocular retinoblastoma is more complex to treat, but is rare.

There are two treatment options for small retinoblastomas, these include cryotherapy (which freezes the retinoblastoma in order to remove the cancerous cells) and laser treatment to the affected eye such as thermotherapy (a procedure which kills cancerous cells with the aid of heat therapy) or photocoagulation (this is also effective for small tumours located within the eye, this procedure involves using a laser and is focused