- One in every 12,000 children in the United States is affected by retinoblastoma.

- It is the most common eye tumor in children and the third most common cancer affecting children overall.

- 60% to 70% of the cases are non-hereditary and the cause remains unknown.

- 90 % of the cases occur from birth to five years of age with most cases being diagnosed by age two.

- 7,000 children worldwide die needlessly each year due to the lateness of the diagnosis.

- Older children can develop retinoblastoma. Example: A 13 year old was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma. A young woman contacted me who had her eye enucleated at age 16 and I recently heard of a 28 year old man that was diagnosed with retinoblastoma.

- You cannot prevent retinoblastoma but you cannot die from it either. It is metastatic retinoblastoma that kills. There is no cure. Metastatic retinoblastoma is 100% preventable and should never happen. Our pediatricians need to look for this disease at every pediatric exam and can do so with an instrument called an ophthalmoscope.