Guillermo Chantada, SIOP President, Head of the Outreach Program at Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“This is the most current survival figure of retinoblastoma in Argentina according to the National Registry (ROHA). I am so happy to see that 94% of children with this tumor are now cured with almost a 8% increase in 20 years. Survival was around 80% in the early nineties (probably lower since these were data from one institution only).
Care is highly centralized at a national referral center where around 90% of children are treated under prospective protocols. These great results also highlight that the introduction of intra-arterial chemotherapy in 2008 has not impaired the survival rate of the patients (in fact it is better). No child has received radiotherapy for ocular conservative treatment for many years and the ocular preservation rate is currently around 80% for bilateral retinoblastoma.
No specific public awareness campaign for retinoblastoma was ever launched in Argentina, but ophthalmologists in training receive an educational module and retinoblastoma is always presented in national ophthalmology congresses. Everybody knows that the referral center Hospital Garrahan receives all patients regardless their capacity to pay without delay, usually in the same day.
So, well-trained ophthalmologists, universal access to a highly specialized center and the use of nationally-developed effective treatments achieved these outstanding results. Having a national registry like ROHA makes it possible to analyze results in context.”
Guillermo Chantada shared new national data showing a 94% survival rate for retinoblastoma in Argentina.
He emphasized centralized care, prospective protocols, and national collaboration as key contributors to the country’s improved outcomes.
Chantada also highlighted the role of education for ophthalmologists and the importance of having a national registry to monitor outcomes.
You can find more posts featuring Guillermo Chantada on OncoDaily.