retinoblastoma
DESCRIPTION
Contract 17- Hoopman ScienceTRANSCRIPT
Retinoblastoma
What Is It?Retinoblastoma is a rare cancerous
tumor of the retina. This cancer is only curable if it’s caught early
enough, but around 87% of children who get this disease die. About 97% of the children who live have severe vision loss or could lose one or both
of their eyes.
How Do You Get It?This disease is cause by a mutation in a gene controlling cell
division, which causes cells to grow out of control and become cancerous.
In about half of the cases, this mutation develops in a kid whose family has never had eye cancer. Other times,
however, the mutation is present in a number of family members. If the mutation runs in the family, then there is a 50% chance that the person’s children will also get the
mutation, making them have a high risk of developing the disease as well.
This cancer typically affects kids under the age of 6. It’s most commonly diagnosed in children from 1-2 years of age.
What Does It Do?• One or both eyes can be affected• Blindness may occur in the eye
that’s affected.• You can also get any of the
following:– Crossed eyes– Double vision– Eyes that are not aligned– Eye redness and pain– Poor vision
Signs & Symptoms• Common signs of retinoblastoma include:
- A white glint or glow in the pupil of one or both eyes in dim lighting- White pupil that shows up in photo- Crossed or eyes that are not aligned
Nervous SystemRetinoblastoma affects the nervous
system because it can impair your vision. It can also affect your brain if
the tumor gets bad enough and spreads, which is also part of the
nervous system.
SpreadingAlthough it’s rare, this tumor can spread to other parts of the body, including the brain,
lungs, and bones. This happens when it spreads to the eye socket by the optic nerve, and then can also go to other parts of your
body.
Treatment• The different treatments depend on the size
and location of the tumor.• Smaller tumors can be treated using laser
surgery or cryotherapy. • Radiation is used for both small tumors and for
larger tumors.• Chemotherapy might be necessary if the
tumor spreads beyond the eye.• The eye could need to be remove (a procedure
known as eucleation) if the tumor doesn’t go away with other treatments. Sometimes, eucleation might be the first treatment.
Treatment Effects
Cryotherapy uses extreme cold to destroy diseased cells. Bleeding may result from the freezing of
tissues, and nerve damage can also occur, impairing the function of the nerves that were
frozen.External beam radiation is most often used for
children with bad cases. It delivers high-powered beams to the area with the tumor. It can cause side
effects to the brain if the beam reaches sensitive areas around the eye. This is why this treatment is
usually reserved for kids with bad cases.
(circulatory system)(nervous system)
(nervous system)