Chemotherapy for retinoblastoma

Fourteen patients with retinoblastoma treated with chemotherapy in our hospital were surveyed to study the effects of chemotherapy on retinoblastoma. These patients were compared with those registered in 1980 and 1981 in Japan. In unilateral retinoblastoma limited to the eyeball, there was no significant difference in outcome between the chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy groups. In bilateral retinoblastoma, however, patients treated with chemotherapy within one month after the start of conservative therapy showed a better outcome than those whose chemotherapy was started more than one month after conservative therapy was begun.