A Study of the Effectiveness of a Local Injection of Chemotherapy for Retinoblastoma
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-04-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Over the past 15 years, intravenous chemotherapy has become the most popular conservative
(eye-saving) method for retinoblastoma treatment because it is often effective and usually
safe. In recent years, there has been much interest in providing highly focused (focal)
chemotherapy to a diseased organ including the liver, brain, and eye. With focused
chemotherapy, the chemotherapy drugs are injected directly into the ophthalmic artery (the
artery that supplies blood to the eye). A benefit of focal chemotherapy delivery is that it
decreases the chance of toxicity to other organs such as bone marrow suppression (causing low
blood counts) and the development of other cancers in the future.