About Me

I am a married gal. I love the outdoors! I absolutely love going on road trips. My favorite state is GA. I have 2 tattoos. I love drums+music. Polar Pops are a must have. Church is very important to me. I am an aunt to only 4 legged animals; which I love but I hate.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is a cancerous tumor located in the retina of the eye. The retina is the part of the eye in which you are able to see color and light. This cancerous tumor can be hereditary, on the other hand it may not be. This tumor is usually seen in children. In the US, two hundred and fifty children are diagnosed with this each year. What happens is there is a mutation on RB1, which is contained in chromosome 13. Parents can pass this on, and if the child has mutations in both RB1s that were passed on, than that child will most likely be diagnosed with retinoblastoma. If the child has an genetic retinoblastoma, than it is likely that they are at risk for other cancers, such as bone cancer, tisse cancer, melanoma, and so on.


Symptoms for this tumor located in the retina varies. Some symptoms include pain in the eye, white spots seen on the pupil, crossed eyes, blindness, and redness. Children with these symptoms need to see a physician to make sure there is not a tumor, due to the fact that the cancer could spread. If it spreads throughout the brain or other parts of the body, this means the likely of curing the tumor has decreased.

There are a couple different treatments that may be used on a child with retinoblastoma. One treatment would be laser surgery. Most likely if the tumor is localized and had not spread, laser surgery would be the best option. However, removal of the eye may have to be an option. If the tumor has overtaken the eye itself, than to ensure no further spreading anywhere else, than the result may be to just take the eye itself. Although for a child this would be devastating, it would be better than a chance of it spreading to the brain.



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