Hematological Second Primary Malignancy in Pediatric Retinoblastoma: A Case Report and Systematic Review

The impact of heredity and treatment modalities on the development of hematologic second primary malignancies (SPMs) is unclear. This study primarily reviewed the literature on patients with hematologic SPMs after retinoblastoma.

The PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched to identify all cases of hematologic SPMs after retinoblastoma through December 2023 (International prospective register of systematic reviews CRD42023488273).

Sixty-one patients from 35 independent publications and our case were included. Within the cohort, 15 patients (51.7%) were male, and 14 patients (48.3%) were female. Of the 43 cases with known heritability status, 27 (62.8%) were classified as heritable and 16 (37.2%) as nonheritable. The median age at diagnosis was 18 months (IQR: 7.00-36.00). The geographic distribution of patients was diverse, with North America accounting for 35.0% (21/60) of cases. The following treatment strategies were used: 11.9% (5/42) of patients received neither chemotherapy nor radiotherapy, 33.3% (14/42) received chemotherapy alone, 11.9% (5/42) received radiotherapy alone, and 42.9% (18/42) received a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The median delay between retinoblastoma diagnosis and SPM diagnosis was 40 months (IQR: 22.00-85.00). Among the 61 cases, acute myeloid leukemia accounted for 44.3% (27/61), followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 21.3% (13/61), Hodgkin's lymphoma in 11.5% (7/61), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 9.8% (6/61), chronic myeloid leukemia in 3.3% (2/61), and acute natural killer cell leukemia in 1.6% (1/61).

Vigilant systemic surveillance for hematologic SPMs in retinoblastoma survivors, especially those treated with systemic chemotherapy and those with hereditary conditions, is warranted to improve management strategies and patient outcomes.