Retinoblastoma in Great Britain 1963-2002

Abstract

There were 998 unilateral cases, 581 bilateral and 22 of unknown laterality. Bilateral cases tended to be diagnosed at a younger age than unilateral. All bilateral cases are regarded as heritable, and 35% had a family history of the disease. 7% of the unilateral cases had a family history and are therefore heritable. Thus, at least (41%) of our cases are heritable. This is an underestimate, since these data on family history are incomplete. For unilateral cases aged below 1 year, the reported incidence rate increased significantly (p<0.0001) by about 2.5% per year; for the age group 1-4 years, the average increase was about 0.5% per year (not significant).