Treatment of primary intraocular lymphoma with intravitreal methotrexate.
OBJECTIVE
To report the efficacy of intravitreal chemotherapy for primary intraocular lymphoma (PIOL).


METHODS
Retrospective, noncomparative interventional case reports are presented for six patients (ten eyes; mean age, 58.8 years) with pathologically confirmed PIOL who participated in this study and were treated at our hospital with intravitreal injections of methotrexate (MTX) between January 2004 and February 2007. Intravitreal injections of MTX (400 microg MTX/50 microl Opeguard-MA) were administered once or twice weekly for 1 month followed by ten monthly injections. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-6 were measured in the vitreous before and after injections to determine tumor activity.


RESULTS
All eyes were clinically cleared of malignant cells. One eye lost vision. After intravitreal chemotherapy, the vitreous IL-10 concentration reached barely detectable levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Intravitreal chemotherapy achieves clinical remission and preserves vision in patients with PIOL.
Sou
Reika
R
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan.
Ohguro
Nobuyuki
N
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan. nohguro@ophthal.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
Maeda
Tetsuo
T
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Saishin
Yoshitsugu
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan.
Tano
Yasuo
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan.
D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019572:Retinal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019233:Retreatment; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000378:metabolism
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; C508609:IL10 protein, human; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016753:Interleukin-10; D008727:Methotrexate