1 eye lost, chemotherapy on 18-month-old girl suffering from eye cancer
Times of India | 16 July 2024
Kolkata: A one-and-a-half-year-old girl has undergone ophthalmic chemotherapy at Regional Institute of Ophthalmology for retinoblastoma. Govt officials said this is the first time such a procedure is being carried out to treat eye malignancy in eastern India. The girl from Sunderbans has already lost an eye to the condition but doctors are hopeful of saving the remaining eye.She might need a few more rounds of chemotherapy, along with other treatment modalities.
Retinoblastoma is a cancer of the eye that starts with the growth of cells in the retina. The condition mostly affects children and is commonly diagnosed by the age of two.
“Living without eyes will be too traumatizing for the child as this will also mean tthere will be facial disfiguration,” said medical oncologist Swarnabindu Banerjee, department head at Medical College Hospital Kolkata (MCH), trained at Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai.
The RIO team roped in the oncology and interventional radiology (IR) teams from its parent organisation MCHK and the girl was given intra-arterial chemotherapy for retinoblastoma five days ago. It involved delivering concentrated doses of the cancer-killing medicine directly to the affected part of the eye. Doctors said the girl is responding well to the therapy. “The RIO team will conduct a follow up in the next few days and carry out a mapping to see if she needs more chemotherapy,” said Banerjee.
Doctors said once the tumour shrinks considerably, other treatment modalities, like laser, will follow. Only countable govt institutes, like AIIMS Delhi and PGI Chandigarh, conduct this procedure. Among eye-speciality hospitals, only one or two private hospitals in the south have the facility. While the procedure could cost around Rs 5 lakh in private facilities, it was free for the girl. The govt paid for the costly medication.
“Children may have retinoblastoma from birth. If the diagnosis is late, the affected child might lose the eye,” said Debasish Bhattacharya, chairman and MD, Disha Eye Hospitals.
Retinoblastoma symptoms include white or red pupil instead of black, poor vision, eye swelling and pain. “Retinoblastoma is a common cause of ocular malignancy in children and a major cause of blindness in them,” said ophthalmic surgeon Jayangshu Sengupta, medical director at Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital.