A recent study suggests that a drug normally used for treating cancer may be useful in helping premature babies at risk of going blind from premature retinopathy. Not just that, the drug treatment is thought to be a better and cheaper solution than laser therapy.

The results of the study are astounding in fact, with just 4% of babies given Avastin having a return of the disorder compared to 22% of infants given laser treatment.

The study’s author Dr. Helen A. Mintz-Hittner, a paediatric ophthalmologist at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston said: “You’re paying $40 for a pair of eyes for 80 years. You can’t get much more bang for your buck than that. It’s really a major advance.”

Premature retinopathy generally occurs in premature babies who after birth have been given oxygen treatment. The disorder happens because the baby takes in more oxygen that needed which the lungs are unable to transport around the body properly. The eyes are susceptible to oxygen deficiency when this happens.

As one doctor explains: “We try the best we can to duplicate the in-utero conditions, but obviously we cannot.”

As a consequence, as the baby develops after birth the retina develops abnormally, which can in some babies detach, causing blindness.

Laser treatment can help stop the infant going blind but it can itself cause loss of peripheral vision.

By contrast, injecting Avastin into the eye soon after oxygen treatment seems to avoid this problem stopping damage to the retina. Avastin is able to block the abnormal development of blood vessels.

“We are going to save some babies who would have gone blind with the laser treatment. It will change the patterns of practice overnight,” Doctor Reynolds added.