Retinal cancer in children

The article was consulted with Specialist Doctor I, Resident Doctor Nguyen Hung Tien - Doctor of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.

Retinal cancer in children, if examined and detected early, the chances of keeping children's eyes are much higher than other diseases. Therefore, early detection of the causes and signs of the disease is very important.

1. What is retinal cancer?

Retinal cancer occurs in the retina, due to the formation of a malignant tumor in the eye. The tumor directly affects the retina and surrounding thin nerve tissue. The disease can occur in one or both eyes (about 25% of children with retinal cancer in both eyes).
The cause of retinoblastoma is not well known, most of the cases are due to genetic factors and abnormal gene mutations. If parents are worried when their child is diagnosed with cancer and do not know if their child has curable retinoblastoma, the answer is that the disease has a pretty good prognosis. can keep the eye and some other cases have vision loss .

Nếu được điều trị ung thư võng mạc sớm trẻ có thể chỉ bị suy giảm thị lực

2. Symptoms of retinal cancer

Some symptoms suggestive of retinal cancer, including:
There is a white pupil when taking pictures at night, instead of red as usual Strabismus : The child's eyes do not look straight, but shift inwards or outwards. Eye pain, redness, swelling Eye protrusion: The eyeball is larger than normal Vision is poor Iris heterochromia: The color of the black inside of the two eyes is different.

3. Causes of retinal cancer

The cause of retinal cancer is a mutation in the retinoblastoma-1 (RB1) gene, a mutation that has the ability to pass from parent to child and lead to hereditary retinal cancer. In addition, there are a number of new mutations, which are the cause of random retinal cancer.
Retinal cancer in children is mainly hereditary, often affecting both eyes. In contrast, incidental retinoblastoma is more common in older children and usually occurs in only one eye.

4. Diagnosing retinal cancer

First, the doctor predicts the disease based on existing clinical symptoms, the child's medical history and the child's family (to detect genetic risk). Next, the doctor will give paraclinical investigations to accurately determine or rule out the disease such as:
Ophthalmoscopy Fluorescein angiogram Biomicroscopy eye examination Eye ultrasound CT scan, MRI

Xét nghiệm lâm sàng để chẩn đoán ung thư võng mạc

5. Treatment of retinal cancer

Treatment methods for retinal cancer are diverse, depending on many factors, the most important of which are the degree of tumor progression, visual ability. Some main treatment methods are applied, including:
Eye removal surgery: Surgery is indicated for large tumors, the patient's vision is severely reduced Radiation therapy: Use X-ray energy to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumor size Cryotherapy: Using extremely cold gas to destroy cancer cells Optical coagulation method: Using laser to destroy blood vessels Tumor therapy using heat: Using high temperature to kill cancer cells Chemotherapy: Using drugs to kill cancer cells In which, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are two therapies used. Most commonly used, mainly for the treatment of metastatic tumors, small or moderate tumors.

6. Complications of retinal cancer

Untreated retinal cancer can cause some of the following complications:
Blindness Metastasis to other parts such as the eye socket, central nervous system, skull, metastases to bone marrow and metastasis spread to organs such as liver and kidney through blood. Retinoblastoma in children is a dangerous disease that can leave eye complications for life. However, the disease can be well controlled if it is at an early stage. Therefore, if there is a family history of retinoblastoma or other conditions affecting vision, it is important to bring your child to be screened as soon as possible. Parents should also regularly take their children to a general health check-up for timely disease screening.

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