melphalan and Eye-Diseases

To evaluate clinical outcomes and enucleation rates after intravitreal melphalan (IVM) alone and after IVM combined with intravitreal topotecan (IVT) for the treatment of vitreous disease, and to a lesser extent subretinal and retrohyaloid seeds, in patients with retinoblastoma.. A retrospective analysis of 77 eyes of 72 consecutive patients.. Demographic data, classification of tumors, seed type (dust, sphere or cloud) before injection and at the end of follow-up, injection type (IVM or IVM+IVT), doses of IVM and IVT, number of injections, follow-up time, enucleation status and side effects were recorded. Cox regression analysis and log-rank test for Kaplan-Meier curves were performed.. Of 77 eyes, 40 received IVM alone (group 1) and 37 received IVM+IVT (group 2). Enucleation rates were 62.5% (n=25) in group 1 and 10.8% (n=4) in group 2 (p=0.001). Median eye survival was 23.6 months in group 1 and 25.6 months in group 2. Mantel-Cox test revealed statistically significant differences between Kaplan-Meier curves of group 1 and 2 (p=0.022). Multiple Cox regression analysis showed a significantly elevated enucleation rate associated with: IVM only treatment group (p=0.019) and pre-injection cloud type of seeding (p=0.014).. The combined use of intravitreal melphalan and topotecan provides significantly better results in terms of avoiding enucleation and vitreal and subretinal seed control.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; Child, Preschool; Drug Therapy, Combination; Eye Diseases; Eye Enucleation; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Infant; Intravitreal Injections; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Melphalan; Neoplasm Seeding; Proportional Hazards Models; Retinal Diseases; Retinal Neoplasms; Retinoblastoma; Retrospective Studies; Topoisomerase I Inhibitors; Topotecan; Treatment Outcome; Vitreous Body

Intravitreous injections of melphalan hydrochloride are increasingly used in the treatment of vitreous seeding of retinoblastoma. Although this technique can save eyes otherwise destined for enucleation, ocular salvage may be accompanied by local toxic effects. Posterior segment toxic effects in this context are well established. This report describes the toxic effects on the anterior segment following intravitreous administration of melphalan.. Our clinic cohort included 76 patients who received intravitreous injections of melphalan at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from September 12, 2012, through April 15, 2015; data analysis was performed from April 15 through May 15, 2015. We report a series of 5 patients from this cohort who developed anterior segment toxic effects. These abnormalities were found at the injection site or within the meridian of the injection and included a traumatic cataract following an injection at an outside hospital, iris depigmentation and thinning, iris recession with retinal necrosis and hypotony, a filtering conjunctival bleb, and focal scleromalacia with localized pigmentation.. Intravitreous injection of melphalan may result in toxic effects on the anterior segment of the eye, in addition to retinal abnormalities, and appears to be more common in the meridian of the injection where the drug concentration is highest.

Topics: Anterior Eye Segment; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; Child, Preschool; Eye Diseases; Female; Humans; Infant; Intravitreal Injections; Male; Melphalan; Microscopy, Acoustic; Retinal Neoplasms; Retinoblastoma; Retrospective Studies; Tomography, Optical Coherence

To describe histopathologic observations in eyes enucleated after intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC) for retinoblastoma (Rb).. Retrospective histopathologic analysis of 8 eyes.. The eyes were enucleated for tumor viability (n = 4), neovascular glaucoma (n = 2), anaphylactic reaction from IAC (n = 1), and persistent retinal detachment with poor visualization of the tumor (n = 1). Of the 2 eyes judged clinically with complete tumor regression and the 5 with viable tumor, the findings were confirmed on histopathology. The Rb response ranged from minimal (n = 1) to moderate (n = 1) to extensive (n = 4) to complete regression (n = 2). Viable vitreous seeds (n = 4 eyes), invasion into the optic nerve (n = 3), reaching the lamina cribrosa in 2 cases, and invasion into the choroid (n = 1) were observed. Histopathologic evidence of ischemic atrophy involving the outer retina and choroid was found in 4 eyes. One eye treated at another center with IAC and enucleated by our team for recurrence was observed to have extensive choroidal and outer retinal atrophy. This case showed orbital vascular occlusion and subendothelial smooth muscle hyperplasia. Intravascular birefringent foreign material was observed in 5 cases within occluded vessels, stimulating a granulomatous inflammatory response. The foreign material comprised cellulose fibers (n = 3), synthetic fabric fibers (n = 1), or unknown composition (n = 2). Thrombosed blood vessels were identified in 5 eyes and involved ciliary arteries in the retrobulbar orbit (n = 5), scleral emissarial canals (n = 1), small choroidal vessels (n = 1), and central retinal artery (n = 1).. Retinoblastoma can be controlled with IAC, but histopathology of enucleated eyes reveals that ocular complications including thromboembolic events can occur.

Topics: Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; Chemotherapy, Cancer, Regional Perfusion; Child; Child, Preschool; Choroid Neoplasms; Eye Diseases; Eye Enucleation; Female; Fluorescein Angiography; Fluoroscopy; Humans; Infant; Injections, Intra-Arterial; Male; Melphalan; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Seeding; Ophthalmic Artery; Optic Nerve Neoplasms; Retinal Neoplasms; Retinoblastoma; Retrospective Studies; Thromboembolism; Vitreous Body