ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The survival of retinoblastoma in less-developed countries (LDCs) and the impact of socioeconomic variables on survival are not widely available in the literature. METHODS: A systematic review of publications from LDCs was performed. Articles were from multiple databases and written in seven languages. Results were correlated with socioeconomic indicators. Lower-income countries (LICs) and middle-income countries (MICs) were included in our analyses. RESULTS: An analysis of 164 publications including 14,800 patients from 48 LDCs was performed. Twenty-six per cent of the papers were written in languages other than English. Estimated survival in LICs was 40% (range, 23-70%); in lower MICs, 77% (range, 60-92%) and in upper MICs, 79% (range, 54-93%; p = 0.001).Significant differences were also found in the occurrence of metastasis: in LICs, 32% (range, 12-45); in lower MICs, 12% (range, 3-31) and in upper MICs, 9.5% (range, 3-24; p = 0.04). On multivariate analysis, physician density and human development index were significantly associated with survival and metastasis. Maternal mortality rate and per capita health expenditure were significantly associated with treatment refusal. CONCLUSIONS: Important information from LDCs is not always available in English or in major databases. Indicators of socioeconomic development and maternal and infant health were related with outcome.
Subject(s)
Developing Countries , Retinoblastoma/mortality , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Infant , Socioeconomic Factors , Survival RateABSTRACT
The current study was performed to evaluate two regimens of treatment and to describe clinical and epidemiologic characteristics in patients with extraocular retinoblastoma. Eighty-three patients with extraocular retinoblastoma according to Childrens Cancer Group (CCG) classification were admitted to the Pediatric Department of the A. C. Camargo between 1987-2000. The age, gender, race, lag time, first clinical presentation, staging, laterality, and treatment regimen were analyzed. Treatment was comprised of cisplatin, teniposide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide during the first treatment period (1987-1991) or cisplatin and teniposide with alternating courses of ifosfamide and etoposide during the second treatment period (1992-2000). The mean age of the patients was 32.9 months (range, 2-145 months). The mean lag time was 10.5 months. Forty-three patients were treated in the first period and 40 patients were treated in the second period. Locally advanced tumors (Class I-III) were present in 83.1% of the patients. There was a positive correlation between lag time and age for unilateral tumors (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.35; P = 0.006), whereas the correlation was negative for bilateral tumors (r = -0.12; P = 0.63). The 5-year overall survival was 55.1% in the first treatment period and 59.4% in the second treatment period (P = 0.69).
No significant differences with regard to survival rates were noted for unilateral tumors between the two treatment periods (44.6 noted for unilateral tumors vs. 59.1 noted for unilateral tumors). In the current study, the addition of ifosfamide and etoposide to a treatment regimen comprised of cisplatin, teniposide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide did not appear to improve the survival of patients with extraocular retinoblastoma. Patients with dissemination to the central nervous system or metastatic disease remain incurable and die of progressive disease, despite the aggressive treatment. A multicenter trial should be considered to evaluate the best strategy for these situations.
