AST treats 140 children with eye cancer over three years

RAWALPINDI, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2026) Paediatric oncologist at Al-Shifa Trust(AST) Eye Hospital, Dr Tanzeela Farhat, has said nearly 140 children with eye cancer had been successfully treated during the past three years, describing it as a major achievement in a country where most cases were detected at advanced stages.

Talking to the media here on Monday, she said the hospital’s Cancer Unit had registered 620 cancer patients and conducted 3,952 chemotherapy sessions since it became operational.

Dr Tanzeela said many patients belonged to low-income and rural families facing challenges, including lack of awareness, transport costs and delayed referrals.

She warned that delayed diagnosis remained the biggest challenge in treating childhood eye cancer in Pakistan despite improving recovery rates.

Dr Tanzeela said many parents failed to recognise early signs of eye cancer, including a white reflection in a child’s eye in photographs or poor eye contact.

“If detected early, many children can survive and even retain their vision,” she said.

She advised parents to use a mobile phone torch to check newborns and infants for unusual white reflections in the pupil, medically known as leukocoria, which could indicate retinoblastoma, the most common eye cancer among children.

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“Eye cancer in children is treatable,” Dr Tanzeela said. “The real danger is delayed diagnosis.”

Meanwhile, doctors at the hospital also cautioned that cousin marriages could contribute to inherited eye diseases and certain childhood cancers in Pakistan, where consanguineous marriages remain common.

They said studies showed many retinoblastoma patients reached medical facilities at advanced stages because of delayed diagnosis, limited awareness and financial hardship.

They said global survival rates for retinoblastoma exceeded 99% in high-income countries with early screening and specialised treatment, but could fall to nearly 50% in lower-income countries where children often arrived late for care.

To reduce the financial burden on poor families, Al-Shifa Trust partnered with institutions, including the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the Combined Military Hospital, to provide diagnostic testing and radiotherapy support. Several deserving patients also received radiotherapy free of cost.

Doctors said timely treatment was critical to saving both eyesight and lives.

Al-Shifa Trust currently operates seven hospitals in Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, Chakwal, Gilgit and Haveli Lakha, while Asia’s largest eye hospital is under construction in Lahore.