Examination at the institute revealed further shocking news for them – their child had eye cancer in both eyes. However, there was some consolation in that it was at a stage that was treatable by chemotherapy. He was treated under the supervision of the ocular oncologist, Dr. Devjyoti Tripathy, and responded well to chemotherapy.  

Unfortunately, he had a tumor recurrence in his left eye a few months after his chemotherapy was completed. The tumor recurrence progressed despite further treatment, and Alok’s parents were faced with their toughest challenge yet – surgical removal of the tumor-affected eye to save their son’s life. They agreed, Alok underwent surgery, and he recovered well.  

For the past three years, he has been under regular follow-up and has grown up into a bubbly, cheerful, mischievous three-year-old. His mother states happily that she is thankful that Alok has survived cancer, and though he has lost one eye, the other eye has normal vision. She thanks Dr. Tripathy and LVPEI for the support and guidance provided all throughout Alok’s big fight with eye cancer.

Operation Eyesight has been working closely with LVPEI for more than 20 years. In addition to making quality eye care accessible for underserved communities in India, with the help of a generous donor family, we opened the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer at LVPEI’s Hyderabad campus in 2015. To combat the growing number of eye cancer incidences in India, the facility provides cancer treatment for children and adults, all at low or no cost.  

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Most toddlers keep themselves busy exploring their world with bright, wide-open eyes. So when the parents of two-year-old Shiva, from India, noticed a squint in his right eye, they knew right away that something was wrong. They took him to a government hospital where he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma.

The most common eye cancer in children, retinoblastoma usually affects kids under three years of age. It is treatable when detected early, but 50 per cent of children diagnosed eye cancer worldwide lose their lives due to late detection and inadequate treatment.

Shiva’s parents took him to the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer at the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in Hyderabad, where Dr. Swathi Kaliki confirmed the diagnosis. She told the devastated parents that with timely treatment, Shiva would survive the cancer, and although he would lose the affected eye, he would be able to continue to see with his healthy left eye.

Shiva’s right eye was removed, and his chemotherapy treatment spanned five months. Afterwards he was fitted with a prosthetic eye. Today he is a healthy little boy with a bright future.

The Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer was established in 2015 through support from a generous Operation Eyesight donor. The facility provides treatment for both children and adults free of charge if they are unable to afford it.

Shiva’s father, a farm labourer, is grateful for the free, life-saving care the Institute provided his son. “Sometimes we wonder what might have happened to our child if we had not visited LVPEI in time,” he says. “And then we thank God, Dr. Swathi Kaliki and the L V Prasad Eye Institute.”

The post Toddler saved from deadly eye cancer by early diagnosis and treatment appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

In September 2015, we opened the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer in India in response to the shocking fact that every day, four children in India are born with eye cancer. Through its early detection and integrated treatments programs, the Institute has prevented hundreds of children from losing their sight to retinoblastoma, a life-threatening eye cancer almost exclusively found in young children.

Fortunately, with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, we can save 95 percent of children suffering from retinoblastoma, and in 75 percent of cases, the child’s vision can be saved.

The Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer was established at the prestigious L V Prasad Eye Institute in the city of Hyderabad, thanks to a generous contribution from a Canadian donor family. The Institute provides comprehensive treatment for the entire range of ophthalmic tumors in both children and adults, and patients who cannot afford to pay are offered treatment free of cost. Since its opening, we’ve screened nearly 40,000 people, diagnosed more than 1,700 patients with eye tumours and performed 6,445 procedures including surgeries and chemotherapy.

The Institute also offers critically required services to India and other developing countries through research, capacity-building and education programs. It has trained several ophthalmologists and optometrists as part of its fellowship program, and has published several research papers in reputable, peer-reviewed journals.

There are only a few centres around the world – and none in Asia – that specialize in this type of integrated treatment and serve as a global resource centre. We’re extremely grateful for our donors’ support in providing such a vital service to India and beyond.

In India, retinoblastoma, along with other types of eye cancer, has largely remained undetected due to lack of awareness and the limited availability of affordable eye cancer treatment. In fact, India has the highest number of new cases of eye cancer in the world and more than half of the global burden of eye cancer.

The Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer will play a critical role in increasing awareness about eye cancer, leading to early diagnosis and treatment. With your continued support, we will save many more lives!

The post Helping eye cancer patients from India and around the world appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

Our India projects are growing by leaps and bounds, and serving many levels of eye health across the country, from community programs to secondary and tertiary hospitals. However, one area of eye health where we saw a need is that of eye cancer, or ocular oncology.

I am very excited to announce that last week, we officially opened the doors to the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer in India!

This centre, which has been established at the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in the city of Hyderabad, will deal exclusively with tumors within and around the eye. It will provide comprehensive treatment for the entire range of ophthalmic tumors in both adults and children. It will emerge as a centre of excellence, offering critically required services to India and other developing countries through research, capacity-building and education programs.

There are only a few centres around the world that specialize in this type of integrated treatment and serve as a global resource centre, and we are proud to now operate one of them!

The Institute has been made possible thanks to a generous gift from members of an anonymous Canadian family that has supported our work for many years. The family recognizes the critical need for affordable care for eye cancer patients, especially in India where there is a high burden of eye cancer.

Like all of us at Operation Eyesight, the  family believes in providing ‘the best for the poorest.’ Patients will now be able to receive the specialized treatment they need, and those who cannot afford to pay will be offered treatment free of cost. We expect to treat 500 patients in our first year of operation.

On behalf of all of us at Operation Eyesight, I would like to extend our warmest thanks to our donor family and to Dr. Gullapalli (Nag) Rao and his team at LVPEI. With your support, Operation Eyesight has taken a giant step toward becoming a leader in the field of ocular oncology.

Together, we will continue to save eyes, vision and lives… for all the world to see!

The post Announcing: The Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.