Systemic Chemotherapy and Subtenon Carboplatin, and Local Ophthalmic Therapy in Children With Intraocular Retinoblastoma

Overview

Phase III trial to determine the effectiveness of combining systemic chemotherapy and subtenon carboplatin with ophthalmic therapy in treating children who have intraocular retinoblastoma. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as vincristine, carboplatin, and etoposide, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. It is not yet known whether systemic chemotherapy and subtenon (under the conjunctiva of the eye) carboplatin combined with ophthalmic therapy is effective in treating intraocular (within the eyeball) retinoblastoma.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the event-free survival at 12 months of pediatric patients' eyes with group D intraocular retinoblastoma treated with systemic chemotherapy comprising vincristine, carboplatin, and etoposide, subtenon carboplatin, and local ophthalmic therapy. (Event defined for each eye individually as needed for nonprotocol therapy including nonprotocol chemotherapy, enucleation or any external-beam radiation) SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the event-free survival at 12 months of pediatric patients' eyes with group C retinoblastoma treated with systemic chemotherapy comprising carboplatin, etoposide, vincristine, subtenon carboplatin, and local ophthalmic therapy. II. Determine the acute and long-term toxic effects of these regimens in these patients, including visual outcome and incidence of secondary malignancies. III. Determine the patterns of failure in patients treated with these regimens, in terms of vitreous vs retinal vs both as sites of recurrence. IV. Determine predictors of failure including findings at the on study examination under anesthesia and response status after six courses of chemotherapy. V. Determine the percentage of group C and D eyes separately that can be preserved without enucleation after failing protocol therapy. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients receive vincristine IV over 1 minute on day 1 and carboplatin IV over 1 hour and etoposide IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 2. Patients also receive filgrastim (G-CSF) subcutaneously daily beginning on day 3 and continuing until blood counts recover. Patients receive subtenon carboplatin to each group C or D eye on day 0 or 1 prior of courses 2-4 only. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 6 courses in the absence of occurrence of extraocular retinoblastoma or a second malignancy. Beginning with course 3 of systemic chemotherapy, patients undergo local ophthalmic therapy comprising local laser and/or cryotherapy on day 1. Patients are followed with ophthalmology exams every 4-12 weeks until 3 years of age, every 6 months until 5 years of age, and then annually for up to 10 years.