Two years ago when Vijay Vallabhi was alerted to whitish appearance in his six-month-old son’s pupils, a foe he thought he had conquered two decades ago, had come back to haunt him.
Mr. Vallabhi’s son was soon diagnosed with retinoblastoma, the cancer of the eye, that begins in the retina and spreads. The crushing diagnosis was a moment of realisation that awareness about retinoblastoma could have resulted in better outcomes for his child, for Mr. Vallabhi had lost an eye to cancer as a child in 1994.
The L.V. Prasad Eye Institute here that removed one of the eyes and initiated chemotherapy to combat cancer to save the little boy’s life, organised an awareness run to mark the end of World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week on Sunday. Called ‘Whitathon’, the fund-raising run was flagged off by Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar in the presence of G.N. Rao, Chair, LVPEI. The run featured retinoblastoma survivors among the 2,000 people who participated.
“I did not know that there is a genetic risk of passing down the condition. When my son was around six months old, my mother noticed that his eyes looked like mine when I was diagnosed,” said Mr. Vallabhi, who is now determined to spread the word and help parents understand better. The child is left with residual vision in the other eye. According to Swathi Kalki, who heads the eye cancer wing at LVPEI, retinoblastima affects around one in 15,000 live-births, an incidence that remains unchanged across the world. However, the disease burden in India is amplified due to higher birth rate.
“The disease burden is further increased by the fact that lack of awareness about the condition in India delays diagnosis by almost a year, when compared to the West. An unusual appearance of the eye is still considered a lucky charm in many communities here,” Dr. Kalki said alluding to superstition.
These days, the condition is being spotted in photos, particularly those taken with a camera’s flash on. A white spot, centred in the pupil, is seen in such photos, when a normal eye has a reddish appearance. Dr. Kalki points out that a white spot is not necessarily cancer, but parents must go for a check-up to rule out retinoblastoma. “Early diagnosis can not just help save life, but also help conserve vision. If families are aware of the condition running within, then genetic risks can be determined during pregnancy. The tumour can be removed in a newborn,” she said.
