Nearly a quarter of children diagnosed with rare eye cancer in Africa die within one year
October 15, 2024
a child in a red sweater with a protruding right eye, very swollen eyelid

A new study has shown survival rates in Africa for a childhood cancer are dramatically lower than in high-income countries.

Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children globally. In high income countries such as the UK, nearly all children will survive it.

This latest research has shown that in Africa only 78.2% of children survive retinoblastoma after one year, falling to 66.2% after three years.

The study, involving scientists from the International Centre for Eye Health, looked at 958 patients across 41 African countries. The research is the first of its kind to assess clinical data in Africa directly, and is estimated to include 35% of all cases in Africa for the time period.

The average age at diagnosis for children in the study in Africa was 31 months, significantly higher than the worldwide average of 23 months. 70.7% of children underwent enucleation (the removal of the eye).

Collectively, after one year 75% of children presenting at the African centres had died or had their eye removed one year after diagnosis, again far higher than in high-income countries.

These results were despite many of the centres included in the study having treatments and therapies available for the condition. The authors note that children presenting later to the centres is a significant factor in worse outcomes, and funding for awareness and education campaigns could help to combat this.

The disparities between high- and low-income countries for the condition are alarming and will require further research and action to ensure that children in low-income areas such as Africa are able to survive this disease.

Publication

Nishath T, Stacey AW, Steinberg D, et al. Retinoblastoma survival and enucleation outcomes in 41 countries from the African continent. British Journal of Ophthalmology. August 2024. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo-2023-324746