Retinoblastoma: a review.

Retinoblastoma is the most common primary ocular malignancy in childhood, usually occurring below the age of five. Recent advances in molecular biology have enabled understanding of retinoblastoma tumorigenesis as well as detecting carriers of the mutant retinoblastoma allele. It is possible now to predict prenatally whether a child carries the retinoblastoma genome. This has enabled early detection of retinoblastoma and improved outcome. Also these children are at risk for mesenchymal tumors in early adult life necessitating life long vigilance. Great strides have been made in the management of retinoblastoma. Introduction of a new pathological staging system and addition of combination chemotherapy for extraocular disease has led to more than 80% long term disease free survivors in this group of patients, who earlier had a very poor outcome. For localized intraocular disease, local treatment seems to be all that is necessary. Newer radiation techniques have helped preserve useful vision and reduced radiation related side effects.