Published: | Updated:

WHAT IS RETINOBLASTOMA?

Retinoblastoma is a rare type of eye cancer that usually affects children under the age of five.

As it is usually caught early in the UK, 98 per cent of children with the disease are successfully treated.

About 50 children develop the condition every year in Britain.

It affects up to 300 youngsters annually in the US.

Retinoblastoma is specifically a cancer of the retina, which is the light-sensitive lining at the back of the eye.

It can affect one or both eyes.

A fault gene is responsible in about 40 per cent of cases. This can be inherited from the sufferer’s parents or may occur spontaneously.

The most common symptoms are the pupil looking like a cat’s eye and the child developing a squint. 

The cat eye look is most commonly seen in photos.

Small tumours can usually be treated with laser or freezing treatment.

Larger tumours may require chemotherapy or surgery.

Source: NHS Choices

Advertisement

Read articles that feature this panel

Toddler saved by her holiday snaps: Two-year-old was diagnosed with deadly eye cancer after a photographer noticed a strange white glow in...

During a family trip to Tenerife in January 2017, a photographer snapped Presley, who was just seven months old at the time. The...

Parents of two children who died of a cancer that 95% survive are suing top doctor for 'negligence' because he used chemotherapy instead of...

Damian Creed and Salette Ruiz were both diagnosed with retinoblastoma aged two in Miami, Florida. Though 95 percent of sufferers survive,...

Outcry as little girl dies of cancer after her parents 'spent donations meant for her on treating her brother's cleft lip instead'

The girl, who suffered from eye cancer, died on May 4 in Henan, China and her family has been criticised for not providing her with prompt...

Teenager has a tennis ball-sized tumour growing from her eye and doctors say her condition is incurable

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Sophia Savillaga, 16, from Butuan, Philippines, was born with a blood-shot left retina that started to swell when...

Toddler loses her eye to a rare form of cancer after her mother noticed she couldn't see while playing pirates

Alice Taylor, from Poole, Dorset, was diagnosed with the aggressive eye cancer retinoblastoma in May last year when she was just two years...

Twin baby girls, one, who were diagnosed with a rare eye cancer just DAYS after being born have battled septic shock, multiple hospital...

Twins Ella and Eve, of Pennsylvania, were diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma by the time they were one-month-old. Although off chemo...

The picture that showed a five-year-old had cancer: Girl’s glowing white pupil prompted her mother to take her to hospital – where doctors...

Gracie Corrigan, from Oregon, was diagnosed with the rare eye cancer retinoblastoma when doctors found 10 tumours around her right eye after...

Caroline Aherne's cabaret singer brother, 56, drank for seven hours then died falling down stairs two years after death of his Royle Family...

Caroline Aherne's brother, Patrick Aherne (pictured) had just put his son to bed after spending up to seven hours drinking with friends at...

Heartwarming moment a five-year-old boy who lost his eye to a rare cancer sees his prosthetic for the first time and beams with delight  

Amello Gardiner, from Freeport, Grand Bahama, in the Bahamas, lost his right eye in June 2018 after being diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a...

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis says his one-year-old daughter is cancer free after having her eye removed while battling rare...

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis is sharing positive news about his daughter, Carly-Faith, who has been battling cancer for the...

Schoolgirl, eight, who lost an eye to cancer aged two reveals she's upgraded her blue prosthetic lens to a sparkly pink one - and her...

Daisy Passfield, eight, from Hertfordshire, was just 14 months old when she was diagnosed with a grade D tumour in her retina - and given a...

My little girl was diagnosed with eye cancer - the warning sign was worryingly subtle

A mother from Putney has revealed the worryingly subtle sign her then-14-month-old daughter Isla Palul had eye cancer. Isla's parents...

I lost my eye aged four due to a rare cancer and was nicknamed Mike Wazowski at school - but now I feel beautiful

Katie Elliot, 20, from Glasgow, Scotland, who lost her eye aged four due to a rare cancer was nicknamed 'Mike Wazowski' at school - but says...

The slight change in five-year-old girl's appearance that was a key warning sign of rare cancer

Scans showed Esmae had retinoblastoma - a rare type of eye cancer - which just 44 children in the UK and 300 in the US are diagnosed with...

EXCLUSIVEThe Traitors star Livi Deane reveals her rare eye cancer was only picked up after begging her mum to take her to the opticians because she...

The Traitors star Livi Deane has revealed that she was only diagnosed with a rare eye cancer because she had begged her mum to take her to...

Most watched News videos