PurposeThe humanitarian crisis in Syria has had a profound impact on the entire region. In this study, we report the patterns of presentation and management outcomes of Syrian patients with Retinoblastoma (Rb) treated at a single tertiary cancer center in Jordan.Methods and MaterialsThis is a retrospective comparative study of Syrian refugees and Jordanian citizens who had Rb between 2011 and 2020. Collected data included patient demographics, presentation, tumor stage, treatment modalities, eye salvage rate, metastasis, and mortality.ResultsThirty Syrian refugees (16 (53%) had bilateral disease) and 124 Jordanian citizens (51(41%) had bilateral disease) were diagnosed with Rb during this period. The median age at diagnosis for refugees was 10 and 32 months for patients with bilateral and unilateral Rb consecutively, compared to 6 and 28 months for citizens. The median lag time between signs of disease and initiation of treatment was 3 months for refugees, compared to 1 month for citizens.Refugees were more likely to present with a more advanced stage (p=0.046). Out of 46 affected eyes in refugees; 32 (70%) eyes were group D or E, while out of 175 affected eyes among citizens; 98 (56%) eyes were group D or E. Therefore, refugees with Rb were more likely to mandate primary enucleation (48%) compared to citizens (25%) (p=0.003). However, out of 24 eyes among refugees who received conservative therapy, 15 (62%) eyes were successfully salvaged, while out of 131 affected eyes among citizens who received conservative therapy, 105 (80%) eyes were successfully salvaged (p=0.06). Two (7%) of the refugees and four (3.2%) of the citizens with Rb died from metastasis.ConclusionSyrian refugees with Rb presented with more advanced disease due to delay in diagnosis and referral that increased the treatment burden by decreasing the chance for eye globe salvage. However, patients who received the timely intervention had a similar outcome to citizens with Rb; probably a reflection of the management of all patients at a single specialized center. We advocate for the timely referral of refugees with this rare life-threatening tumor to a specialized cancer center for the best possible outcome.
BACKGROUND:Although rare, choroid melanoma is the most common intraocular malignancy amongst adults. Similarly, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is another rare malignancy that counts for 2-3 percent of all adult malignancies. Second primary cancers are not uncommon, even though they occur less frequently than primary cancers. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a rare choroidal melanoma case in a 55-year-old adult who presented with a one -month history of the painless gradual decrease of vision. His investigations revealed a clinical diagnosis of large choroid melanoma, and upon metastatic workup, he was incidentally found to have synchronous RCC. Both malignancies were treated surgically (and the pathology confirmed the clinical diagnosis of choroidal melanoma and RCC). The patient was free of metastatic or recurrent disease at 12 months follow-up.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.