Study of Treatment for Patients With Cancer of the Eye -Retinoblastoma
Status:
Active, not recruiting
Trial end date:
2021-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Retinoblastoma is a childhood cancer which affects the retina of the eye. The retina is the
light sensitive layer of tissue that lines the back of the eyeball; sends visual messages
through the optic nerve to the brain. When only one eye is affected, this is known as
unilateral retinoblastoma and when both eyes are affected, it is called bilateral
retinoblastoma. Treatment for retinoblastoma is individualized for each patient and is based
on the form and the stage of the disease (inside the eye or has moved outside). The main goal
is always to cure the cancer, and save the life of the child. Treatments are also designed
with the hope of saving the vision, while completely destroying the tumor. Therapies may
involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and other treatments called focal treatments. Focal
treatments may be laser therapy, freezing, or heat treatments meant to shrink and kill the
tumor.
In this study, researchers want to investigate how different participants respond to
different therapies that are individualized specifically for them. Participants will be
divided into three main groups, depending on whether the disease is unilateral or bilateral,
and the stage of the disease. One of the main objectives of the study is to investigate how
advanced tumors in children with bilateral disease respond to a new combination of
chemotherapy with topotecan and vincristine, with G-CSF support. In order to improve results,
some children with very advanced disease may receive carboplatin chemotherapy given around
the eye at the same time that they receive topotecan by vein. Also, because children with
retinoblastoma are diagnosed so early in life and the vision may be significantly impaired,
this study will investigate how children develop and how the brain adjusts and compensates
for the visual deficits. Finally, this study also investigates the biology of retinoblastoma,
in order to understand better how this cancer develops.