Treatment of Extraocular Retinoblastoma

For information about the treatments listed below, see the Treatment Option Overview section.

Treatment of extraocular retinoblastoma (cancer has spread to the area around the eye) may include the following:

• Systemic chemotherapy and external-beam radiation therapy.
• Enucleation.
• Systemic chemotherapy followed by surgery (enucleation). External-beam radiation therapy and more chemotherapy may be given after surgery.

Treatment for extraocular retinoblastoma (cancer has spread to the brain) may include the following:

• Systemic or intrathecal chemotherapy and external-beam radiation therapy to the brain and spinal cord.
• Chemotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue with or without radiation therapy.

It is not clear whether treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue helps patients with extraocular retinoblastoma live longer.

For trilateral retinoblastoma (retinoblastoma and a brain tumor that occur at the same time), treatment may include the following:

• Systemic chemotherapy followed by surgery and high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue.
• Systemic chemotherapy followed by surgery and external-beam radiation therapy.

For retinoblastoma that has spread to other parts of the body, but not the brain, treatment may include the following:

• Systemic chemotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue and external-beam radiation therapy.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.