Survival probabilities of retinoblastoma patients in Malaysia: A 20-year retrospective cohort study

Purpose: To determine the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival probabilities of patients with retinoblastoma in Malaysia and compare their overall survival according to various factors. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma registered in hospitals with pediatric ophthalmology services in Malaysia from January 2004 to April 2023. The overall survival probabilities for patients with retinoblastoma at 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. Additionally, differences in survival probabilities between various groups were analyzed through the log-rank test. Results: The study included 402 patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma obtained from the Retinoblastoma Registry of the National Eye Database in Malaysia and patient's medical records using a standardized data collection form. A total of 22 (5.5%) patients died during the study period. The results showed that the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival probabilities were 96.1% (95% CI: 93.4 to 97.7), 94.5% (95% CI: 91.3 to 96.6), and 92.6% (95% CI: 88.7 to 95.2), respectively. Patients with prolonged delay in diagnosis (p = 0.001), and non-compliance to follow-up (p = 0.001) were associated with differences in survival. Conclusions: This study provides important insights into the survival probabilities of patients with retinoblastoma in Malaysia, demonstrating high survival probabilities at 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year. Significant differences in survival time were observed related to delay in diagnosis, and non-compliance to follow-up indicating the importance of close monitoring and early detection strategies.