A new variation on treating eye cancer in children promises far fewer side effects.
The treatment method, developed at Great Ormond Street Hospital, has been carried out successfully on 12 children patients who have retinoblastoma. This type of cancer is genetic and affects around 50 children a year in the UK.
The new method is to target the opthalmic artery with chemotherapy through a catheter inserted in the groin.
The more common method is to ‘blast’ the body with 20 times the dose.This, not surprisingly, produces sickness, hair loss and immune system suppression.
Reducing the dose to a minimum and targeting the supply reduces side-effects dramatically.
This treatment for retinoblastoma is just one small advance in cancer treatment which has greatly improved the prospects for cancer sufferers , especially children, over the past 10-20 years.
