Secondary acute myeloid leukemia after etoposide therapy for retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is the most common eye tumor in children and is highly curable. Patients with hereditary retinoblastoma, have an increased risk of developing additional tumors, predominantly sarcomas. Most chemotherapy regimens used in retinoblastoma include etoposide, an epipodophyllotoxin associated with a risk of secondary myeloid leukemia. The use of etoposide in patients with a cancer predisposition syndrome such as retinoblastoma is potentially harmful, however, reports of secondary acute myeloid leukemia in patients treated with etoposide for retinoblastoma are rare. We report a case of a patient who developed secondary acute myeloid leukemia after etoposide treatment for retinoblastoma.