Lag Time between Onset of First Symptom and Treatment of Retinoblastoma: An International Collaborative Study of 692 Patients from 10 Countries
Published On: January 1, 2022
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 In this prospective study of 692 patients from 11 retinoblastoma (RB) centres, Kaliki et al. studied the effect of lag time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of RB in these countries based on their national income and analyzed its effect on the outcomes. The following factors were significantly different among different countries based: age at diagnosis of RB (p = 0.001), distance from home to nearest primary healthcare centre (p = 0.03) and mean lag time between detection of first symptom to visit to RB treatment centre (p = 0.0007). After adjusting for country income, increased lag time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of RB was associated with higher chances of an advanced tumour at presentation (p < 0.001), higher chances of high-risk histopathology features (p = 0.003), regional lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), systemic metastasis (p < 0.001) and death (p < 0.001). In conclusion, there is a significant difference in the lag time between onset of signs and symptoms and referral to an RB treatment centre among countries based on national income resulting in significant differences in the presenting features and clinical outcomes.