Intra-vitreal chemotherapy

What is Intra-vitreal chemotherapy?

Intra-vitreal chemotherapy involves delivering chemotherapy directly into the gel in the back of the eye (vitreous).

Who can undergo Intra-vitreal chemotherapy?

This kind of chemotherapy is used for persistent or recurrent seeds in the vitreous (gel in the back of the eye). Your doctor will discuss with you, if you are a good candidate for this treatment.

What are the advantages of intra-arterial chemotherapy?

Intra-vitreal chemotherapy delivers chemotherapy directly to the tumor and minimizes the chemotherapy exposure to rest of the body. The vitreous has no blood supply and hence this is an effective way to deliver chemotherapy directly to the tumor seeds.

How is the procedure done?

The procedure is performed under general anesthesia during the exam under anesthesia. A small dose of chemotherapy in injected with a very small needle and on withdrawing the needle, freezing treatment is done to prevent any cells from seeding.

What chemotherapy is used?

The chemotherapy could be either a single medicine or 2 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?

There is a theoretical risk of tumor seeding with the injection but with the current procedure technique safety is well documented. There can be toxicity to the retina from the chemotherapy and hence dose is carefully calculated. There is also a small risk of infection and hemorrhage.