RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Assessment of retinoblastoma RNA reflux after intravitreal injection of melphalan
JF British Journal of Ophthalmology
JO Br J Ophthalmol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
SP 415
OP 418
DO 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2017-310574
VO 102
IS 3
A1 Ursula Winter
A1 Michael Nicolas
A1 Mariana Sgroi
A1 Claudia Sampor
A1 Ana Torbidoni
A1 Adriana Fandiño
A1 Guillermo L Chantada
A1 Francis L Munier
A1 Paula Schaiquevich
YR 2018
UL http://bjo.bmj.com/content/102/3/415.abstract
AB Background Intravitreal injection of chemotherapy in retinoblastoma eyes with vitreous seeds may lead to a risk of extraocular tumour dissemination that has not been assessed so far.Aims To develop a sensitive and clinically feasible technique to assess for potential retinoblastoma cell reflux after intravitreal injection of melphalan.Methods Filter papers were cut in 6 mm diameter circles and sterilised before use. Eyes with retinoblastoma vitreous seeds (group D, International Classification) received weekly intravitreal melphalan injections (20 µg or 30 µg/dose) followed by cryotherapy as part of local treatment. Immediately after finishing the injection and cryotherapy, filter papers were placed on the injection site and on the cryoprobe tip to assess for the expression of the cone-rod homeobox gene (CRX) by real-time qPCR as a surrogate of retinoblastoma RNA. The assay was developed and validated to determine sensitivity, linearity, recovery, repeatability and reproducibility.Results The assay for quantitation of CRX expression was linear in the range of 1 to 1000 cells. The lowest limit of detection was one retinoblastoma cell and allowed to recover 100% of the cell load in external supplementation. A total of 14 eyes received 22 cycles of intravitreal melphalan and were evaluated for potential extraocular tumour cell dissemination using the developed technique. None of the cycles were positive for CRX in samples from the scar or from the cryoprobe tip.Conclusions A sensitive and simple method of tumour cell assessment has been developed that can be used in the clinics to assess for potential extraocular dissemination after intravitreal injections to assure its performance.