Ten-month-old Patrick has lost vision in his left eye and endured eight rounds of chemotherapy since he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at six weeks.

Untreated, retinoblastoma is almost always fatal, but fortunately the family GP realised something was amiss at a routine check-up.

‘’At his six-week check-up the GP noticed that there wasn’t a red reflection in Patrick’s eye when a light was shone into it, and referred him to a paediatric eye specialist,’’ Mrs Rowles said. 

‘’We were very lucky the GP picked it up, it could have so easily been missed.

‘’It’s something that can be picked up in photographs too – if there’s a white glow rather than a red reflection in your child’s eye when you take a photo with flash, it’s worth checking out.

‘’We all take photos of our children, and it’s something that childcare workers like myself, or teachers, or professional photographers can look out for too.’’

Patrick’s ophthalmologist Dr Michael Jones, of Westmead Children’s Hospital, said while rare, retinoblastoma was the most common eye tumour in children.

Removing the eye and replacing it with a prosthetic is a frequent treatment, but conservative strategies are increasingly being used. 

‘’We can’t shy away from taking the eye if we have to, but if we get to it early enough, then there are other options including chemotherapy, laser and cryotherapy,’’ Mr Jones said.

Sometimes hereditary, Mrs Rowles said there was no family history of the genetic condition meaning it was a new mutation in Patrick’s case. ‘’Patrick has bi-lateral retinoblastoma which means it affects both eyes. He’s lost vision in his left eye though he has perfect vision in his right eye,’’ she said.

‘’He has regular examinations and each one could bring another round of chemo, but he’s responding well to treatment.

‘’We’d just urge other parents to not only have their babies eyes checked, but to get regular eye examinations as they grow.’’

During World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week, Mrs Rowles took Patrick to her employer, Keiraview Children’s Centre, to give kids a sense of life with a vision impairment.

‘’We’ve blindfolded the kids and let them do some painting to give them some awareness of how hard it is to lose one of your senses.’’ 

Keiraview director Linda Logue said it was also an important awareness activity around cancer. ‘’Many children know someone affected by cancer so rather than be scared of it, activities like this can help them understand it a little better.’’

Dr Jones also urged parents to take eye care seriously. He said parents should ask their GPs to do an eye examination as part of every scheduled childhood check.

Currently, these examinations are done for newborns and – only in NSW – prior to Kindergarten as part of the StEPS vision screening.

‘’This is a really serious cancer which if not treated is uniformly fatal,’’ Dr Jones said.

‘’There’s an incidence of retinoblastoma of around one in 15,000 live births in Australia, and that’s the same incidence around the world.

‘’However the outcomes are vastly different globally – in first world countries there’s a survival rate of 99 per cent due to early diagnosis and treatment. In developing countries however there’s a mortality rate of 70 per cent.’’

Dr Jones said while a white reflection in the eye when a light – or flash – was shone into the pupil could often be a sign of a tumour, it was not always a cause for concern.

‘’You can get that white reflection in normal eyes on occasion but if you see it consistently then it does needs to be checked,’’ he said.