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Symptoms of retinoblastoma
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The most frequently observed external symptoms of retinoblastoma are strabismus and leukocoria (white reflex of the fundus). On the retina, the tumor looks like one or multiple whitish foci. The tumor can grow endophytically, penetrating all the media of the eye, or exophytically, affecting the retina. Other symptoms of retinoblastoma are periorbital inflammation, fixed pupil, heterochromia of the iris. Loss of vision in young children may not manifest itself with complaints. Intraocular tumors are painless if there is no secondary glaucoma or inflammation. The presence of a tumor in the anterior parts of the eyeball, as well as metastasis, is associated with a poor prognosis. The main routes of retinoblastoma metastasis are contact along the optic nerve, along the sheaths of the optic nerve, hematogenously (along the veins of the retina) and by endophytic growth into the orbit.
Retinoblastoma develops in both eyes (bilateral retinoblastoma) in 25-40% of cases. The average age of patients at diagnosis is 13 months. Most cases of retinoblastoma are diagnosed before the age of 2 years, mainly due to the availability of screening among patients with a burdened hereditary history. After 5 years, only 8% of cases of the disease are diagnosed.
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