Encouraging result of tamoxifen in a retinoblastoma patient with central nervous system metastasis.

Extraocular retinoblastoma occurs more frequently in developing countries as a delayed diagnosis and prognosis of patients with conventional therapy is very poor. Metastatic retinoblastoma, especially in the central nervous system (CNS), is a highly lethal disease. Tamoxifen has been used in some previous studies with variety of responses to therapy in patients with unresectable recurrent brain tumors. A 7-year-old girl with recurrent metastatic retinoblastoma received 60 mg/m2 tamoxifen in addition to chemotherapy and CNS radiotherapy. She was in remission until she has died in a traffic accident at week 114. The authors think that tamoxifen can be added to treatment protocols of metastatic retinoblastoma to provide longer and at least higher quality of life for these patients.