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Could cellphone cameras be what uncover a new method of detecting potential cancer in the eye? A theory from one parent was studied at the Harvard Medical School, which suggests that photos of children with “white eye” or leukocoria could be early signs of the developing cancer known as retinoblastoma.
Retinoblastoma develops in the retina, the tissue in an eye that detects light for the brain to interpret. Retinoblastoma is one of the most common forms of eye cancer in children, and is recognized by white eye in photographs of children with the illness. If the cancer is left undiagnosed for too long, it could prove fatal for children if it spreads to the brain.
· According to clinical analysis, 95 percent of children in the US treated for retinoblastoma will likely survive
· Children in developing countries, on the other hand, have only a 50 percent survival rate
· Researchers believe medical technology in developing nations cannot catch early signs of retinoblastoma
Bryan Shaw, who holds a Ph.D in chemistry and biochemistry, had a theory about white eye when his son Noah was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. According to Shaw, doctors typically do not rely on digital photography to test for retinoblastoma as white eye was until now, considered a symptom of an advanced stage of the cancer.
Shaw and his wife Elizabeth noticed white eye in cellphone photographs of Noah, and submitted the photos to a clinical study involving 28 children – 9 with retinoblastoma, and 19 without. Based on the initial analysis, Shaw was able to determine that white eye can alert parents as well as doctors to the possibility of retinoblastoma in a child in its early stages.
“Leukocoria can emerge in low frequency in early-stage retinoblastoma and increase in frequency during disease progression and decrease during disease remission.”
Shaw took his theory to his colleague Dr. Shizuo Mukai at the Harvard Medical School, who also removed Noah’s tumors to send the cancer into remission. Dr. Mukai co-authored an advanced study on the theory that Shaw described as the foundation for software “to alert unsuspecting parents to the emergence of recurrent leukocoria.”
Shaw believes if the study paves the way to software detection technology for white eye, it will save thousands of lives, particularly of children in developing nations.
“If we can create software that can detect leukocoria and alert a parent when it begins to occur persistently, then I believe digital photography can eradicate metastatic retinoblastoma from this world and prevent most of the deaths that occur.”
The long and short of it all – keep taking pictures of your children as they could provide potentially life-saving clues about your child’s health.