Bilateral retinoblastoma survivors often develop new primary cancers
An East Coast study indicates that bilateral retinoblastoma survivors may be more likely to develop another primary malignant neoplasm than any other cancer patients.
There are some 400 eye cancer deaths annually in the United States, the American Cancer Society says, with some 1,700 additional diagnoses likely to be made this year. In 25% to 30% of retinoblastoma cases, both the patient's eyes are involved.
Perhaps the most extensive study to date of nonocular cancer in patients who have had successful treatment for bilateral retinoblastoma was reported recently in Dallas to members of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology.
The investigators, David H. Abramson, MD; Robert M. Ellsworth, MD; and Lorenz Zimmerman, MD, estimate that a patient with bilateral retinoblastoma has an 18% chance of developing a second malignant neoplasm. They reviewed the records of 2,302 children with unilateral or
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
