Evaluation of Chemotherapy as Initial Treatment for Retinoblastoma

OBJECTIVES: I. Estimate the objective response rate in infants and children with retinoblastoma when treated with carboplatin (CBDCA) and vincristine (VCR) every 3 weeks for 24 weeks. II. Assess the success of this regimen in delaying radiotherapy and eliminating the need for surgery by estimating the cumulative incidence function of treatment failure. III. Estimate the cumulative incidence of failure of this regimen as measured by subsequent treatment with radiotherapy or surgery. OUTLINE: All patients receive carboplatin and vincristine every 3 weeks for a maximum of 8 courses. Patients with disease progression after at least 2 courses are removed from study and considered for alternative therapy. Patients are followed every 6 weeks for 1 year, every 2 months for 1 year, every 3-4 months for 3 years, and yearly for 12 years. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 25 patients will be accrued for this study within 4.5 years.