Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38751498›Full record

ReviewOcular oncology and pathology2024

Evidence in Focus: The Sparse Landscape of Randomized Trials on Retinoblastoma Treatment.

Georgios Lavasidis, Kyriaki Papaioannou, Nikolaos Anagnostou, Petra Ketteler, Nikolaos E Bechrakis, Evangelia Ntzani

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Ocular oncology and pathology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Definition of parameters and thresholds to detect MYCN amplification in retinoblastomas.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Georgios LavasidisEvidence-based Medicine Unit, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.
Kyriaki PapaioannouDepartment of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Nikolaos AnagnostouEvidence-based Medicine Unit, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.
Petra KettelerDepartment of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Nikolaos E BechrakisDepartment of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Evangelia NtzaniEvidence-based Medicine Unit, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Retinoblastoma, although rare, is one of the most common intraocular malignancies worldwide. Its prognosis has improved significantly in the past few decades, thanks to modern treatments, like systemic, intra-arterial, and intravitreal chemotherapy. However, regarding survival, there are significant differences between high- and low-income countries, eye salvage is still a challenge worldwide, and treatment-related toxicity needs to be carefully and sufficiently managed. Summary: To appraise the strength of supporting evidence, we performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials investigating any therapeutic protocol for retinoblastoma. Four trials with 174 participants (188 eyes) were eligible, all pertaining to different intravenous chemotherapy regimens. Vincristine, etoposide, and carboplatin (VEC) appear superior to a 5-drug combination for stage III retinoblastoma. Moreover, etoposide and carboplatin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by thermochemotherapy seem to offer better local control than vincristine and carboplatin. However, increasing carboplatin dose in the VEC protocol failed to improve treatment efficacy. Key Messages: Retinoblastoma is a success story of modern medicine. However, only intravenous chemotherapy has been studied through randomized trials, while evidence for the most novel retinoblastoma treatments has mainly stemmed from observational studies. International collaborations for multicenter randomized trials could overcome difficulties and increase certainty and precision in the field.

Indexed as

ChemotherapyOcular oncologyPediatricsRetinoblastoma

Identifiers

PMID38751498
PMCPMC11095627

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.