Intra-arterial chemotherapy

What is Intra-arterial chemotherapy?

Intra-arterial chemotherapy involves delivering chemotherapy selectively to the artery supplying the eye (ophthalmic artery).

Who can undergo Intra-arterial chemotherapy?

This kind of chemotherapy is used for tumors that affect one eye and for recurrent tumors following other treatments. Your doctor will discuss with you, if you are a good candidate for this treatment.

What are the advantages of intra-arterial chemotherapy?

Intra-arterial chemotherapy delivers chemotherapy directly to the tumor and minimizes the chemotherapy exposure to rest of the body. This decreases the toxicity to cells in the rest of the body. It also delivers a much focused chemotherapy to the eye which increases the potency of the chemotherapy.

How is the procedure done?

The procedure is performed under general anesthesia by an interventional radiologist. A puncture is made in the artery around the hip and a catheter is advanced to the artery supplying the eye and the chemotherapy is slowly delivered. The procedure is repeated every 4 weeks and on an average 3 cycles are required but up-to 6 cycles can be employed.

What chemotherapy is used?

The chemotherapy could be either a single medicine, 2 drugs or 3 drugs. The most commonly used chemotherapy is melphalan. This would be determined by your doctor based on the tumor involvement in the eye.

What is the success rate of this procedure?

Your doctor will discuss the success rate of this procedure for your child based on the extent and stage of the tumor.

What are the side effects of this procedure?

The side effects can be:

• Eye side effects – It can cause eye redness, lid swelling, pain and limitation of eye movement. Rare side effects include vision loss or blindness from retinal detachment, hemorrhage, blood vessel occlusion, optic nerve or retinal damage
• Chemotherapy side effects – Though it is a localized chemotherapy, there is some toxicity and hence your doctor would advise you to get labs to check the blood count. They will also discuss with you precautions to minimize exposure to infections.
• Local side effects – There can be bleeding from the leg wound