Characterization, treatment and prognosis of retinoblastoma with central nervous system metastasis

BACKGROUND: Retinoblastoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor and more and more attention has been paid to the developing countries. This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical features, treatment, and prognosis of retinoblastoma patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastasis in Beijing Tongren Hospital, one of the largest tertiary eye centers in China. METHODS: Clinical data of 31 consecutive retinoblastoma patients with CNS metastases, who were diagnosed at the Department of Pediatrics in Beijing Tongren Hospital between September 2005 and December 2015, were retrospective analyzed. RESULTS: The median age at presentation was 29 months (range from 5 to 108 months). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results indicated that 16 patients (56.6%, 16/31) presented with meningeal involvement, 12 (38.7%, 12/31) presented with intracranial mass, 11 (35.5%, 11/31) presented with thickened optic nerve, and 5 (16.1%, 5/31) presented with concurrent meningeal and spinal cord membrane involvement. Retinoblastoma cells were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 12 patients (44.4%, 12/27). Laboratory examinations on the blood and CSF were performed for 11 patients who had received six cycles of systemic chemotherapy, indicated that the serum level of neurone-specific enolase (NSE) after chemotherapy was significantly lower than that before chemotherapy (P < 0.05). At the end of the follow-up, 25 patients were dead with a median survival time of 6 months (1 d – 21 months), and 6 cases were alive and continued to receive treatment. CONCLUSION: Our results were basically consistent with previous reports in the developing countries, and it could be guidance for clinical treatment, prognosis and prevention of CNS metastases in retinoblastoma. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12886-018-0772-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.