Shijie Lan¹, Zhihua Cui², Zhigang Liu³, Jianli Cui³, Lingling Liang², Di Wu¹

¹Cancer Center, the First Hospital of Jilin University, ²Department of Ophthalmology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, ³Department of Hand and Foot Surgery, the First Hospital of Jilin University

Objective:To observe and analyze the retinopathy associated with high doses of interferon α-2b therapy in patients with melanomas of the skin. Method: Eighteen patients with melanomas of the skin whose tumors have been resected completely were collected. The detailed ocular examinations including intraocular pressure, slit lamp microscope, indirect ophthalmoscope and color fundus photography were done before the induction therapy, 2 weeks after the induction therapy, after the whole course of induction therapy and each month in the maintenance treatment period. Fundus examinations were carried out by experienced ocular fundus doctors and the retinopathy characteristics were recorded. Result: There are 8 males and 10 females in this study. The age of the patients varied from 30 to 81 years, with the average of 55 ± 15 years old. In the 18 patients, total of 12 patients were found with retinopathy, among which 9 patients were found with bilateral retinopathy and 3 patients with unilateral retinopathy. The total incidence rate was 66.7%. The Cotton-wool spots (CWS) with and without retinal hemorrhage were founded in 3 cases and 5 cases, respectively. The simple retinal hemorrhage was founded in 2 cases and the retinal hemorrhage with rigid seepage was founded in 2 cases Of the 18 cases. 6 patients suffered from hypertension, among which 4 patients developed retinopathy, the incidence rate was 66.7%; 5 patients suffered from diabetes, including 2 patients who suffered from hypertension as well, all developed retinopathy, the incidence rate was 100%. The average administration time before the occurrence of retinopathy was 7.7 weeks, ranged from 2 weeks to 20 weeks. All patients except for one patient who developed blurred vision had no subjective symptom and continued with the therapy until the course ended. Conclusion: The high doses of interferon α-2b therapy in patients with melanomas of the skin may induced retinopathy, especially in the patients with hypertension or diabetes, so these patients should be followed up after treatment.

Key Words: retinopathy  melanomas  the high doses of interferon