retinoblastoma: a report from a referral center in iran: 1979-2007

purpose : retinoblastoma (rb) is a relatively common childhood tumor. in this report we discuss the clinical characteristics, treatments and outcome of the treated rb patients from a referral center in iran in order to understand this medical problem in our society. methods : a retrospective study was carried out on rb cases treated in farabi eye hospital since 1979 to 2007. the variables analyzed were age, sex, affected eyes, time of the diagnosis, treatment modalities, pathological findings and the survival rate. results : we analyzed 557 cases with a mean age of 32.2 months [standard deviation (sd)= 22]. there was a male predominance (60%). there were 380 unilateral cases (68.6%). enucleation was performed in 65.6% of the patients. nearly 82% of the eyes were in group va and vb reese-ellsworth or in a very advanced condition. of the enucleated cases, 43.2% of the eyes have had undifferentiated types of tumors. disease free survival was 68.5% in this study (by a mean follow-up of 61.9 months). conclusion : considering the advanced stages of disease in the majority of patients at the time of diagnosis, the enucleation ratio of our rb patients was higher than other countries.   iranian journal of ophthalmology 201224(1):31-37 © 2012 by the iranian society of ophthalmology