A Review on Local Chemotherapy for Treatment of Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy of childhood. Current treatments for retinoblastoma have led to a survival rate exceeding 95% and only occasional long-term morbidity. Locally delivered chemotherapy could carry the benefits of chemoreductive effects and conceivably spare patients from the toxicity and mutagenicity associated with systemic chemotherapy. Mainstays of local chemotherapy are improving drug delivery to the tumor site in the eye and molecular target treatment of the tumor while sparing intact organs. In this review, chemotherapeutic drug delivery as peribulbar, intraophthalmic artery and/or intravitreal injections and finally gene therapy and use of vectors for local delivery of drugs and genes are presented. Despite many pre-clinical advanced improvements in local chemotherapeutic control of the tumors, using these methods in the clinic requires many delicate and well controlled preclinical and clinical studies.