Regina Wieland

Thermochemotherapy in hereditary retinoblastoma

Background/aim: The combination of chemotherapy and transpupillary thermotherapy, thermochemotherapy (TCT) has become an established part of the treatment plan in advanced retinoblastoma. The aim of this study was to identify safe indications, the complications as well as the limitations of this new treatment for retinoblastoma. Methods: Tumour response and side effects of TCT with an indirect laser ophthalmoscope (spot size about 400 μm) in 55 tumours of 26 children with bilateral retinoblastoma were analysed. Using the Reese-Ellsworth classification system, nine of 35 eyes were classified as type I, 13 eyes as type II, 10 eyes as type III, and three eyes as type V. The mean age of the children was 0.74 (SD 0.61) years. The mean tumour height was 3.5 (2.3) mm with a mean diameter of 6.1 (4.1) mm. Treatment parameters were 4.3 (1.6) (median 5) thermochemotherapy sessions with a mean energy of 539 (211) mW and a mean duration of 13.5 (5.6) minutes. Chemotherapy courses (vincristine, etoposide, and carboplatin) were repeated every 3 weeks. The mean follow up period was 1.25 (0.6) years. Results: Local recurrence occurred in 21 tumours (38%), with a mean onset of 3.2 (2.9) months after TCT. The risk of tumour recurrence was correlated with tumour height. The recurrence rate was 17% for tumours with a height less than 2 mm, 37% for tumours with a height between 2 and 4 mm, and 63% for larger retinoblastomas. Multivariate analysis identified fish flesh regression after TCT (p = 0.0007) as the most important risk factor for tumour recurrence besides tumour height (p = 0.001) and the necessity of increased laser power during TCT sessions (p = 0.018). Complications during therapy included transient corneal opacification in two eyes (6%), focal iris atrophy (three eyes, 8.5%), peripheral lens opacity (two eyes, 6%), circumscribed transient retinal detachment (one eye, 3%) and diffuse choroidal atrophy (one eye, 3%). Conclusion: TCT using an indirect laser ophthalmoscope with a spot size of about 400 μm was efficient for retinoblastoma with a tumour height less than 4 mm. In larger tumours, the recurrence rate was unacceptably high. Fish flesh regression after TCT correlates with a higher rate of local tumour recurrence. Treatment related complications occurred in less than 9% of the treated eyes.

Effects of RANK-Ligand Antibody (Denosumab) Treatment on Bone Turnover Markers in a Girl With Juvenile Paget's Disease

CONTEXT Juvenile Pagets disease (JPD) is an extremely rare, yet painful and debilitating bone disease with onset occurring during early childhood. JPD can be caused by loss of function of osteoprotegerin, resulting in subsequent stimulation of osteoclasts via the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANK) pathway. Increased bone turnover and lack of bone modeling lead to severe deformities, frequent fractures, short stature, and loss of hearing. SETTING The treatment for JPD is challenging and has previously been based on administration of either calcitonin or bisphosphonates. However, with the development of denosumab, a receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB-ligand (RANKL) antibody, a treatment targeting the pathophysiology of JPD may be available. We report the effects of denosumab treatment on an 8-year-old girl with a severe form of JPD. PATIENT Before starting the denosumab treatment regimen, the patient had been treated for 3.5 years with iv pamidronate. INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME The administration of denosumab resulted in improved disease control compared with bisphosphonate, as assessed by monitoring markers of bone turnover. Alkaline phosphatase levels dropped within the normal range and remained at normal levels for 5 months after the final dose of denosumab. Additionally, bone pain was more efficiently controlled with denosumab. However, concomitant with the first injection, severe hypocalcemia developed, for which the patient was hospitalized and iv calcium supplementation was required for 13 days. CONCLUSIONS Denosumab appears to be significantly effective for osteoclast inhibition for the treatment of JPD. However, in our patient, denosumab administration was associated with severe hypocalcemia, indicating that close monitoring of calcium levels is required during treatment.

Incidence of second cancers after radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy in heritable retinoblastoma survivors: A report from the German reference center

Survivors of heritable retinoblastoma carry a high risk to develop second cancers. Eye‐preserving radiotherapy raises this risk, while the impact of chemotherapy remains less defined.

Chemoreduction improves eye retention in patients with retinoblastoma: a report from the German Retinoblastoma Reference Centre.

Background Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular childhood tumour. Although mortality is low in Western countries, long-term sequelae, including secondary tumours, compromised vision or loss of one or both eyes are common. Chemoreduction combined with focal treatment is currently the leading conservative treatment for retinoblastoma, with success rates of 50–75% reported. We assessed a new chemoreduction protocol using intravenous cyclophosphamide with reduced dose of carboplatin on eye retention in patients with retinoblastoma. Procedure The 40 patients with retinoblastomas in 56 eyes were treated between 1995 and 2004 at the German Retinoblastoma Reference Centre Essen. The 6-cycle chemotherapy used vincristine (days 1, 22, 43, 64, 85, 106), etoposide (days 22, 43, 85, 106), carboplatin (days 1, 43, 64, 106), and cyclophosphamide (days 1, 22, 64, 85). Mean follow-up was 101 months. Most patients received additional hyperthermia, some received local treatment with laser coagulation, cryotherapy and/or β-ray brachytherapy. Therapy failure was defined as progression requiring enucleation or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Results Primary chemotherapy was successful in 42 of 56 eyes (75%). Therapy success and visual acuity at age 6 years correlated with the International Classification of Retinoblastoma (ICRB) group. Age at diagnosis (> or <6 months) correlated with relapse, but not with therapy failure or visual acuity at 6 years of age. ICRB group did not correlate with occurrence of relapse. Conclusions In this retrospective single-centre study, chemoreduction, including cyclophosphamide, with or without focal treatment, effectively controlled retinoblastoma progression without requiring enucleation or EBRT. Addition of cyclophosphamide is safe, and allows reduction of carboplatin.

Impairment of Bone Health in Pediatric Patients with Hemolytic Anemia

Introduction Sickle cell anemia and thalassemia result in impaired bone health in both adults and youths. Children with other types of chronic hemolytic anemia may also display impaired bone health. Study Design To assess bone health in pediatric patients with chronic hemolytic anemia, a cross-sectional study was conducted involving 45 patients with different forms of hemolytic anemia (i.e., 17 homozygous sickle cell disease and 14 hereditary spherocytosis patients). Biochemical, radiographic and anamnestic parameters of bone health were assessed. Results Vitamin D deficiency with 25 OH-vitamin D serum levels below 20 ng/ml was a common finding (80.5%) in this cohort. Bone pain was present in 31% of patients. Analysis of RANKL, osteoprotegerin (OPG) and osteocalcin levels indicated an alteration in bone modeling with significantly elevated RANKL/OPG ratios (control: 0.08+0.07; patients: 0.26+0.2, P = 0.0007). Osteocalcin levels were found to be lower in patients compared with healthy controls (68.5+39.0 ng/ml vs. 118.0+36.6 ng/ml, P = 0.0001). Multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed a significant (P<0.025) influence of LDH (partial r2 = 0.29), diagnosis of hemolytic anemia (partial r2 = 0.05) and age (partial r2 = 0.03) on osteocalcin levels. Patients with homozygous sickle cell anemia were more frequently and more severely affected by impaired bone health than patients with hereditary spherocytosis. Conclusion Bone health is impaired in pediatric patients with hemolytic anemia. In addition to endocrine alterations, an imbalance in the RANKL/OPG system and low levels of osteocalcin may contribute to this impairment.

How Eye-Preserving Therapy Affects Long-Term Overall Survival in Heritable Retinoblastoma Survivors

PURPOSE Intraocular retinoblastoma is curable, but survivors with a heritable predisposition are at high risk for second malignancies. Because second malignancies are associated with high mortality, prognostic factors for second malignancy influence long-term overall survival. This study investigates the impact of all types of eye-preserving therapies on long-term survival in the complete German cohort of patients with heritable retinoblastoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS Overall survival, disease staging using international scales, time period of diagnosis, and treatment type were analyzed in the 633 German children treated at the national reference center for heritable retinoblastoma. RESULTS The 5-year overall survival of children diagnosed in Germany with heritable retinoblastoma between 1940 and 2008 was 93.2% (95% CI, 91.2% to 95.1%), but long-term mortality was increased compared with patients with nonheritable disease. Overall survival correlated with tumor staging, and 92% of patients were diagnosed with a favorable tumor stage (International Retinoblastoma Staging System stage 0 or I). Despite a 5-year overall survival of 97.4% (95% CI, 96.0% to 98.8%) in patients with stage 0 or I, only 79.5% (95% CI, 74.2% to 84.8%) of these patients survived 40 years after diagnosis. Long-term overall survival was reduced in children treated with eye-preserving radiotherapy compared with enucleation alone, and adding chemotherapy aggravated this effect. CONCLUSION The benefits of preserving vision must be balanced with the impact of eye-preserving treatments on long-term survival in heritable retinoblastoma, and the genetic background of the patient influences choice of eye-preserving treatment. Germline RB1 genetic analysis is important to identify heritable retinoblastoma among unilateral retinoblastoma cases. Eye-preserving radiotherapy should be carefully considered in patients with germline RB1 mutations. Life-long oncologic follow-up is crucial for all retinoblastoma survivors, and less detrimental eye-preserving therapies must be developed.

De novo intraocular retinoblastoma development after chemotherapy in patients with hereditary retinoblastoma.

Objective: Identification of incidence and risk factors for recurrence of de novo retinoblastomas after chemotherapy treatment in patients with hereditary retinoblastoma. Methods: A retrospective, case–control study of 32 patients (50 eyes) with sporadic or familial bilateral retinoblastomas was conducted. Patients received a systemic chemotherapy regimen applying three courses of a combination of three drugs (including vincristine, etoposide, carboplatin, or cyclophosphamide) followed by additional local therapy. The primary outcome analyzed was the development of retinoblastomas, probably arising as the cause of a new mutational event (de novo) after completion of chemotherapy treatment. Results: Patients were treated with an average of 5.8 ± 1.8 chemotherapy courses (4.6 ± 2.4-year follow-up time). Development of de novo tumors occurred in 48% of the treated eyes. These tumors occurred during chemotherapy treatment or within 7 months of chemotherapy completion. No de novo tumors developed in patients older than 3.2 years. Children who developed de novo tumors were significantly younger at the time of diagnosis (6.7 ± 6.3 months vs 14.4 ± 11.4 months, P < 0.001), and had a significantly lower number of tumors per eye at treatment begin (2.6 ± 2.3 tumors vs 4.3 ± 6.4 tumors, P < 0.001). The difference of the total numbers of retinoblastomas that developed per eye between the patients that developed de novo retinoblastomas during or after chemotherapy and patients who did not was not statistically significant (4.9 ± 2.7 and 4.3 ± 6.4, respectively, P = 0.8). No eye was lost because of de novo retinoblastoma development, and 92% of the eyes were preserved. Conclusions: De novo retinoblastomas developed both during and after completion of chemotherapy treatment. Younger children were at a significantly higher risk for developing de novo intraocular retinoblastomas. Good tumor control and eye preservation rates were achieved with regular and frequent control examinations in addition to the immediate treatment of de novo retinoblastomas.

Calcifications in untreated Burkitt's lymphoma of the upper jaw.

Background: Dystrophic calcifications are uncommon in lymphomas. They may occur after chemotherapy or radiotherapy, whereas calcifications in untreated non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas are rarely reported in the litera-ture. Case Report: We report the case of a 9-year-old boy who developed tumefaction of the right upper jaw. CT examination revealed a neoplastic lesion in the right upper jaw sinus with destruction of the maxilla and sub-cutaneous fat infiltration. Furthermore the tumor showed accentuated central calcifications. Histological examina-tion revealed endemic type of Burkitt’s lymphoma of the paranasal sinus. Conclusion: Our experience showed that calcification can rarely occur also in untreated Burkitt’s lymphoma.

Bone health in children with hemolytic anemia: does the pathogenesis of hemolysis determine the phenotype of bone alteration?

Methods and Patient characteristics: Patients (n=46, 25 female) were recruited year-round to avoid seasonal effects at followup visits at the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Kinderklinik Essen. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the UK-Essen and written informed consent was obtained from patients and parents. Patients had the following diagnoses: HBSS disease (n=17), HBSC disease (n=2), HBSbeta thalassemia (n=1), beta thalassemia major (n=6), beta thalassemia minor (n=1), hereditary spherocytosis (n=14), glucose-6phosphate deficiency (n=2), paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (n=1), and hemolytic anemia of unknown origin (n=2). For patient characteristics see Table 1.