Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in bilateral retinoblastoma

BACKGROUND: External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for retinoblastoma has traditionally been done with conventional radiotherapy techniques which resulted high doses to the surrounding normal tissues. CASE REPORT: A 20 month-old girl with group D bilateral retinoblastoma underwent intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) to both eyes after failing chemoreduction and focal therapies including cryotherapy and transpupillary thermotherapy. In this report, we discuss the use of IMRT as a method for reducing doses to adjacent normal tissues while delivering therapeutic doses to the tumour tissues compared with 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). At one year follow-up, the patient remained free of any obvious radiation complications. CONCLUSIONS: Image guided IMRT provides better dose distribution than 3DCRT in retinoblastoma eyes, delivering the therapeutic dose to the tumours and minimizing adjacent tissue damage.