Retinoblastoma

Laura Rice
CPA Biology 8
Retinoblastoma




Retinoblastoma is a type of cancerous tumor that develops in the retina of young children. The tumor can be treated and can eventually be cured but there are risks of endangering the child’s eyesight with treatment. Retinoblastoma can occur in one or both eyes. In some cases it is hereditary but in most cases the parents had never had the tumors.
The most common symptom of Retinoblastoma is the cat’s eye reflex in which the area behind the pupil appears white. Other symptoms include redness, inflamed tissue around the eye, poor vision, and sometimes cross-eyes. Some forms of treatment may be removal of the affected eye and replacement with a prosthetic, external beam radiation, plaque radiation therapy in which doctors place radioactive plaque near the tumor, photocoagulation which is a laser treatment, cryotherapy which involves freezing the tumor, and chemotherapy that treats the cancerous tumors. The best reatment to use must be decided by the size and condition of the tumors.
After treatment children may have vision problems and different tumors may occur. Retinoblastoma is caused by mutations to the retina located in chromosome 13.

www.oncolink.org/types/article.cfm?c=14&s=52&ss=416&id=9163
http://www.visitech.org/retinoblastoma.html
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