[China Tec] Local hospital becomes a leading eye cancer center in the world

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Shanghai's Xinhua Hospital has become the world's leading medical center for a kind of rare eye cancer that mostly affects children.

For its ability to save lives, eyeballs and eyesight, the hospital is attracting patients from all over the nation as well as from overseas.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is a rare type of eye cancer in the retina that usually develops in early childhood. The first sign is typically a visible whiteness in the pupil called "cat's eye reflex," which is particularly noticeable in photographs taken with a flash.

The cancer can spread to the brain if not treated in time. Previously, the only solution to save patients' lives was to remove the eyeball.

With the development of interventional technology, local doctors can now introduce chemotherapy medicines directly into the eyeball through a catheter inserted into the artery running all the way to the eye for precise medicine administration.

"The most significant part is that Xinhua Hospital is the only medical facility in the world to innovatively use electrophysiology of the retina in the surgery process to closely monitor electrical responses of the retina and renovate chemotherapy medicine and medication-giving to achieve better treatment effects and reduce complications," said Dr Jing Chaohui from the hospital's neurological surgery department. "That's why our patients can retain their eyesight after surgery."

Established in 2010, the retinoblastoma center at Xinhua Hospital has been expanding its capacity gradually and has become the biggest clinical RB center since 2016. It offers over 1,000 RB surgeries each year, with a 99 percent survival rate and over 80 percent of the children retaining their eyeballs.

Patients from home and abroad

The technology benefits both domestic and overseas children.

A 13-year-old Russian girl, who was diagnosed with retinoblastoma last year, came to Xinhua Hospital after visiting multiple hospitals in Russia and Switzerland. All the hospitals suggested the removal of her eyeball.

The family finally arrived at Xinhua Hospital, which offered three rounds of interventional treatment by September last year.

"Now the girl has recovered from the eye cancer, with her eyeball intact. Her eyesight has also recovered gradually. She likes drawing and sends her paintings to our doctors through WeChat from time to time," Jing said. "Her mother especially learned the Chinese for 'thank you' to express her gratitude to all people who have helped her."

The usual treatment period is three months with one interventional surgery each month. The cost of one round of treatment is about 30,000 yuan (US$4,168), for a total cost of about 90,000 yuan.

"The cost in the US is about 1 million yuan," said Jing, whose team received a 9-year-old girl, who was diagnosed with RB at the age of three. She had received eight interventional chemotherapy treatments in the United States, which still failed to bring the eye cancer under control. Her family brought her to Xinhua in 2020 for follow-up treatment.

After three rounds of interventional chemotherapy at Xinhua, the girl's disease stabilized and there was no relapse during the follow-up.

Early screening and early intervention

Dr Zhao Peiquan from Xinhua Hospital said RB is a disease that can be controlled through early screening and intervention.

"The eye cancer grows from a very tiny spot in the eye. Most children are born with the disease. If newborns' eye diseases can be included in the disease screening system, such children can be identified at a very early stage. A very simple laser treatment can cure the issue easily, instead of waiting for more serious symptoms after the cancer grows bigger and even starts to invade other organs," he pointed out.

Parents should also be alert if their children's eyes show "cat's eye reflex," Zhou added.

If you go

Xinhua Hospital 新华医院

Address: 1665 Kongjiang Rd, Yangpu District 杨浦区控江路1665号

Hotline of Xinhua Hospital's international medical center: 139-1659-8343, 021-2507-8147

Email of the center: jlgjzjzlb@xinhuamed.com

Email of Dr Jing Chaohui: jingchaohui@xinhuamed.com.cn