Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children and mostly affects children less than 5 years of age. Every year about 2500 children are diagnosed with this cancer in India. While timely detection can save life of about 95% of these children, it is a ‘silent killer’ and late detection is the major cause of mortality caused by this cancer in children. While many children battle the cancer and come out victorious, the story of eye cancer among children in India has been that of loss of life and eye owing to the ignorance about the disease, late detection and lack of timely and proper treatment. Awareness initiatives about recognizing and treating this cancer early will go long way in saving these precious little lives!

Dr. Shroff;s Charity Eye Hospital has established an Integrated Eye cancer treatment centre in Januray 2014 with all manpower, infrastructure and facilities for treatment of Retinoblastoma under one roof. This facility is the first of its kind in North India and aims to cater to the treatment of all childhood eye cancer primarily Retinoblastoma coming from all strata of the society.The centre treats about 100 patients with retinoblastoma each year. The treatment is usually prolonged and requires strict compliance and timely follow up visits by the family to be able to save the life and eye of the child. Treatment depends on the size and location of the tumor, whether the cancer has spread to other areas and the overall health of the child.

We wish to save children's life suffering with cancer of the eye. Retinoblastoma is almost always curable, especially if it hasn’t spread beyond the eye.

A desired impact:-

• To get rid of the cancer and save the child’s life.
• To save the eye if possible.
• To preserve as much vision as possible.

 Once the patients complete their cancer treatment, they need to come for follow-ups and medical procedures just to watch for signs that the cancer has not come back.