The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has issued the national guidelines in the management of retinoblastoma, which will help the practising ophthalmologists, paediatricians and general practitioners to diagnose early cases of retinoblastoma and refer for treatment to a tertiary hospital at the earliest.
Retinoblastoma is a rare cancer of childhood and if diagnosed early can save the eye and the life of the child. It is the malignant tumour of the eye arising from fetal retinal cells that affects children under five years of age. It is estimated that India has the highest number of affected children with retinoblastoma in the world. The incidence is estimated to be 1200 new cases each year.
These guidelines are intended to provide knowledge to the treating ophthalmologists, paediatricians, ocular oncologists, paediatric oncologists, and general physicians to arrive at an early diagnosis of retinoblastoma at the settings of district hospital, in private clinics and tertiary care hospitals. The guidelines will enable the contact health personnel to refer at the right time to the tertiary care hospital for management of retinoblastoma.
These uniform guidelines will also help to conduct clinical trials to develop better protocols in the management of retinoblastoma. The guidelines are seen as a valuable effort to save the lives of children and vision from retinoblastoma. The survival of retinoblastoma has improved in the last decade due to the increasing awareness about cancer and improved technologies and improved chemotherapy protocols in the management of Retinoblastoma.
The guidelines were the result of a unique effort, and the first of its kind, spearheaded by Dr Vasantha Thavaraj under the auspices of ICMR and the Paediatric Haematology & Oncology Chapter of Indian Academy of Paediatrics. The ICMR sponsored, along with Paediatric Haematology Oncology (PHOCON 2008 pre-congress), a consultative meeting on guidelines and standard operating procedures (sop) for the management of retinoblastoma on November 6, 2008. The year-long efforts resulted in standardisation of the practices for appropriate treatment of retinoblastoma at the national level.
There are divergent views at various institutes in the appropriate management of retinoblastoma. All such national experts and specialists who treat children with retinoblastoma were brought under one roof in 2008 to brainstorm and produce consensus guidelines for a unified approach to the diagnosis and management of retinoblastoma in the country.
Meanwhile, the ICMR has invited comments from the experts on the guidelines. All the stakeholders can send their comments before February 15 this year.