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The most common eye tumor that occurs in children.
Retinoblastoma is a disease that causes the growth of malignant tumors in the retinal cell layer of the eye.
Most patients are under 5 years of age. This tumor may involve one (75% of cases) or both (25% of cases) eyes in a child.
Causes:
Retinoblastoma is caused by changes in or absence of a gene called RB1. RB1 is located on chromosome 13.
Cells of the body, with the exception of the egg and sperm cells, contain 23 pairs of chromosomes.
RB1 produces a tumor suppressor protein that normally helps to regulate the cell cycle of cells such as those of the retina.
Symptoms:
- Squinting - Eyes not moving together properly
- Vision loss in one eye
- Trouble
urinating.
Treatments:
- Surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Laser therapy
- Plaque or external beam
radiotherapy
- Cryotherapy (uses a freezing process to destroy the tumor
- Fitting and training for a prosthesis
- Blind or decreased vision adaptation training
- Antibiotics (to prevent/treat infection)
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