“Know the glow” is your first defence at winning the war against Retinoblastoma. The most common eye cancer is a genetic disease that affects children below the age of five years.
“Awareness is the key. Parents should lookout for a shiny white centre in the eye, which could be the first indicator of the presence of this cancer,” said Bhawana Chawla, Additional Professor, Dr. R. P. Centre, All India Institute of Medical Centre (AIIMS).
She was speaking at a press conference organised at AIIMS on the occasion of World Retinoblastoma Week, here on Thursday.
“Retinoblastoma is the most common type of eye cancer with a reported incidence of one in 20,000 live births. What is worrying though is the fact that 30 per cent of the children who have this disease come to us too late. Early detection can lead to 95 per cent to 100 per cent restoration of vision, prevention of the spread of cancer and good quality of life,” added Dr. Chawla.
AIIMS has been running a dedicated Retinoblastoma clinic for six years now and the data collected speaks for itself. As per the data released on Thursday, 30 per cent patients report to the hospital at an advance stage, when the cancer has spread from the eyeball to other areas, including the brain.
Survival rates — if cancer is intraocular the chances are 95 per cent and 60 per cent in the case of extraocular cancer. Of the reported cases, 60 per cent are boys and 10 per cent of the patients never return for a follow-up.
“What doctors here are targeting is educating healthcare providers and parents to be able to detect the ‘glow’ early on. AIIMS has seen a 20 per cent increase in numbers of incidence/cases in the last five years. This could be because of increased awareness and our free of cost facility,” she said.
AIIMS is also in talks with the Union Health Ministry to ensure that an aggressive awareness programmed is rolled out to bring down the numbers of those who aren’t able to access healthcare in time.
Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer is a genetic disease that affects children below the age of five years
