An audit of retinal lymphoma treatment at the University of California San Francisco

To evaluate retinal lymphoma treatment at the University of California San Francisco.

Prospective observational audit. Patients were treated systemically, usually with: methotrexate, temozolomide, and rituximab induction; etoposide consolidation; and maintenance with lenalidomide or another immunomodulatory agent. Persistent disease was treated initially by ocular radiotherapy or intravitreal melphalan and latterly by vitrectomy.

The cohort comprised eight females and two males. The median age was 58 years (range, 38-73). Ocular manifestations were initially unilateral in four patients. Vitreous and subretinal infiltrates were initially present in 16 and 12 eyes, respectively, with three eyes having vision of 20/200 or worse. Four patients had a history of central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma. The median ophthalmic follow-up was 37 months (range, 8-56). Diagnostic and therapeutic vitrectomy were performed in 10 and 2 eyes, respectively. All patients had systemic chemotherapy and eight received maintenance immunotherapy. Four patients underwent ocular radiotherapy, bilaterally in two. One patient received bilateral intravitreal melphalan injections. Two eyes of four patients developed lymphoma during the study and two patients developed CNS disease. At study close, subretinal deposits were subtle in nine eyes and more prominent in two, whereas vitreous infiltrates were minimal in nine eyes, mild in one and moderate in one. The latest visual acuity was significantly worse than at presentation in two eyes and better in two. All patients were alive with no active CNS disease.

Subretinal lymphomatous infiltrates respond to systemic chemotherapy with immunomodulatory maintenance, but dense vitreous infiltrates require therapeutic vitrectomy.