Second nonocular tumors among survivors of retinoblastoma treated with contemporary photon and proton radiotherapy

Abstract

Retinoblastoma is highly responsive to radiation. The central objection to the use of RT, the risk of second malignancy, is based on studies of patients treated with antiquated, relatively nonconformal techniques. The current study is, to the authors' knowledge, the first to present a series of patients treated with the most conformal of the currently available external-beam RT modalities. Although longer follow-up is necessary, the preliminary data from the current study suggest that proton RT significantly lowers the risk of RT-induced malignancy.