Chemotherapy in retinoblastoma: Disease profile & therapy outcome in Tanzania, 2008-2010.

Abstract

Retinoblastoma (RB) remains to be one of the most common intraocular malignant tumors among children. While survival rates are high (over 90%) in developed countries, little is known about treatment outcomes of this condition in Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Before 2007, chemotherapy was not part of the routine regimen in the treatment of RB in Tanzania except for palliative basis in advanced recurrent disease. This study aimed at looking at the socio-demographics, clinical presentation, treatment modalities given and evaluating the outcome of treatment and survival of children with retinoblastoma after introduction of chemotherapy protocols at ORCI. It was a retrospective study in which hospital data and case notes of all children with a diagnosis of retinoblastoma from Jan 2008 to Dec 2010 were analyzed. This study was done at ORCI, the only tertiary cancer referral center in the country with a paediatric oncology unit of 17 beds capacity seeing about 150-300 children per year with about 10% of the cases being retinoblastoma. It was found that majority of the patients were female and were aged less than 36 months. It was also found that the overall 3-year survival of the patients was 26%. Chemotherapy courses completeness and stage of the disease were found to have significant relationship with survival. Emphasis should be on early diagnosis by informing the general public and health care providers especially at the primary health facilities.