Doctors and patients race to raise awareness for rare childhood eye cancer

After losing her left eye to a rare cancer, eight-year-old Isabelle is gearing up to join the ranks in this year’s Bridge to Brisbane to raise awareness and vital funds.

Doctors are swapping out scrubs for sweatbands at The Sunday Mail Transurban Bridge to Brisbane as they race to raise awareness for the same childhood cancer that took the left eye of eight-year-old Isabelle Perren.

At just 15-months-old Isabelle’s mum, Kellie, took her daughter to the doctor after seeing a white reflect in her eye as she was walking around the house.

Isabelle Rowston, 8, will be participating in the Bridge to Brisbane to raise funds for the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Picture: Jamie Hanson

“I thought she might have a cataract or something. I took her to the doctor and they said they couldn’t see the back of her eye so we were referred to an ophthalmologist,” she said.

Isabelle was later diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, an eye cancer that mostly affects young children.

“I had never heard of it before. We never really thought it could be something like that, that’s why we find it so important to raise awareness because it involves such young kids and they can’t talk or tell you that they can’t see,” she said.

At three years old, Isabelle lost her left eye to the tumour, but has now been stable for the past five years.

“She’s thriving now, she’s doing so well with her prosthetic eye,” Ms Perren said.

Paediatric ophthalmologist and retinoblastoma specialist, Dr Jayne Camuglia, said raising awareness for the cancer is vital for Queensland parents.

Dr Jayne Camuglia ophthalmologist will join Isabelle in the Bridge to Brisbane. Picture: Jamie Hanson

“It’s the most common eye tumour in children, in Queensland we probably have about nine new cases per year,” she said. “Our team knows they need to get in and treat it quickly, but it’s about bridging that gap with GPs.”

Most cases will present before the child is five or six, according to Dr Camuglia, who said early signs can include a white or yellow glow in the pupil or crossed eyes.

However, a large portion of cases are genetic, with early testing helping doctors detect the cancer in unborn children if either parent had retinoblastoma themselves as a child.

“We have diagnosed some patients antenatally,” she said. “Around 32, 34 weeks we can do an MRI for the tumour and sometimes we’ve had to deliver babies early to start chemo.”

Both Dr Camuglia and the Perren family will now be racing in this year’s Bridge to Brisbane and raising funds for the Children’s Hospital Foundation along the way.