What is Retinoblastoma?

What is Retinoblastoma?

• Retinoblastoma: A very rare malignant tumor that originates in the retina.
• Retinoblastoma: A malignant tumor that originates in the nuclear layer of the retina. As the most common primary tumor of the eye in children, retinoblastoma is still relatively uncommon, accounting for only 1% of all malignant tumors in pediatric patients. These tumors may be multifocal, bilateral, congenital, inherited, or acquired. Seventy-five percent of retinoblastomas are unilateral; 60% occur sporadically. A predisposition to retinoblastoma has been associated with 13q14 cytogenetic abnormalities. Patients with the inherited form also appear to be at increased risk for secondary nonocular malignancies such as osteosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and fibrosarcoma. --2004
  Source - Diseases Database
• Retinoblastoma: malignant ocular tumor of retinal cells; usually occurs before the third year of life; composed of primitive small round retinal cells.
  Source - WordNet 2.1

Retinoblastoma is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Retinoblastoma, or a subtype of Retinoblastoma, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Retinoblastoma as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet

Retinoblastoma: Introduction

Types of Retinoblastoma:

Types of Retinoblastoma:

• Endophytic retinoblastoma
• Exophytic retinoblastoma
• more types...»

Broader types of Retinoblastoma:

• Cancer
• Eye conditions
• Genetic Disease
• Retina Conditions
• more types...»

How many people get Retinoblastoma?

Prevalance of Retinoblastoma: 3% of cancers in children under the age of 15 are due to retinoblastomas, Genetics Home Reference website
Prevalance Rate of Retinoblastoma: approx 1 in 33 or 3.00% or 8.2 million people in USA [about data]
Incidence (annual) of Retinoblastoma: estimated 1 per 250 children are diagnosed with retinoblastomas each year, Genetics Home Reference website
Incidence Rate of Retinoblastoma: approx 1 in 249 or 0.40% or 1.1 million people in USA [about data]
Prevalance of Retinoblastoma: Retinoblastoma occurs in early childhood and affects about 1 child in 20,000. (Source: Genes and Disease by the National Center for Biotechnology)

Who gets Retinoblastoma?

Patient Profile for Retinoblastoma: Usually children under 5.

How serious is Retinoblastoma?

Complications of Retinoblastoma: see complications of Retinoblastoma
Prognosis of Retinoblastoma: Untreated, retinoblastoma is almost uniformly fatal, but with early diagnosis and modern methods of treatment the survival rate is over 90%. (Source: Genes and Disease by the National Center for Biotechnology)

What causes Retinoblastoma?

Causes of Retinoblastoma: see causes of Retinoblastoma
Cause of Retinoblastoma: Usually genetic, either inherited or sporadic.
Causes of Retinoblastoma: The tumor develops from the immature retina - the part of the eye responsible for detecting light and color. (Source: Genes and Disease by the National Center for Biotechnology)

What are the symptoms of Retinoblastoma?

Symptoms of Retinoblastoma: see symptoms of Retinoblastoma

Complications of Retinoblastoma: see complications of Retinoblastoma

Onset of Retinoblastoma: usually childhood

Can anyone else get Retinoblastoma?

Contagion of genetic conditions: generally not; see details in contagion of genetic diseases.
Inheritance: see inheritance of Retinoblastoma

Inheritance of genetic conditions: see details in inheritance of genetic diseases.

Retinoblastoma: Testing

Diagnostic testing: see tests for Retinoblastoma.

Misdiagnosis: see misdiagnosis and Retinoblastoma.

How is it treated?

Treatments for Retinoblastoma: see treatments for Retinoblastoma
Research for Retinoblastoma: see research for Retinoblastoma

Organs Affected by Retinoblastoma:

Organs and body systems related to Retinoblastoma include:

• Eye
• Retina

Name and Aliases of Retinoblastoma

Main name of condition: Retinoblastoma

Class of Condition for Retinoblastoma: genetic, cancer

glioma retinae, RB, Glioblastoma, retinal, glioma, retinal, neuroblastoma, retinal, Retinal tumor, Retinal cancer, Eye Cancer, Retinoblastoma

Eye Cancer, Retinoblastoma, RB, Retinal cancer, Retinal tumor
Source - Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Retinoblastoma:

• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Melanoma
• Lacrimal gland tumour
• Vision loss

 » Next page: Online Medical Textbooks for Retinoblastoma

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