Retinoblastoma: a hereditary tumor in children

Retinoblastoma, a malignant intraocular tumor of infancy and childhood, originates from primitive embryonal retinal cells. The cause of retinoblastoma is the loss or deletion of genetic information from the long arm of chromosome 13. Retinoblastoma has a hereditary form characterized by bilateral and multifocal tumors, and a nonheritable form that presents with a single tumor.