Secondary acute myeloid leukemia in a child treated for retinoblastoma: A case report with review of literature

The most devastating late adverse effect of childhood cancer treatment is development of second malignancies. Retinoblastoma is the most common ocular malignancy of childhood and has a very good cure rate. Children with hereditary retinoblastoma have an increased risk of developing second malignancies due to the genetic cancer predisposition status and the additional risk factors are exposure to chemotherapy (alkylating agents and topoisomerase II inhibitors) and external beam radiotherapy during treatment. The common chemotherapy regimen of retinoblastoma consisting of etoposide, an epipodophyllotoxin is associated with risk of secondary AML (s-AML). We report a case of child with bilateral retinoblastoma who developed secondary AML after being treated for retinoblastoma.