Join our Global Community at One Rb World 2024 in Hawaii!
WE C Hope USA is hosting the 7th One Rb World meeting, October 15-17 in Honolulu, Hawaii, right before the 56th World Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology. Please join us!
Read more and register for this uniqu event. Uniting parents, survivors, medical professionals and scientists from around the wortd, we share knowledge and experience, build community, and collaborate to advance acute and lifelong care, and access to care, for all.
Buy WE C Hope Merch and More at our TeePublic Store
Wear your care for our retinoblastoma community with branded apparel, caps, bags, mugs, and much more. Use our unique link, and a portion of your entire side-wide purchase benefits WE C Hope – including thousands of unique designs.
Find out how you can help expand our range of designs, and sport your support for awareness, medical care and support for all, for life! Learn more and visit our TeePublic store today.
Families, Survivors, Specialists, Join an Rb Event
WE C Hope USA hosts a range of events for our Rb community, from virtual child life activity sessions and relaxing in-person family days, to major collaboratve meetings that unite us all to move care forward together.
Read more and register for upcoming events. You’ll also find blog reviews of previous events including family days and weekends, and One Rb World. Please join us to connect with others who share your experience and desire that all children, survivors and families have the best care possible.
Every two hours, another child dies from curable eye cancer.
More than 10 children every single day.
Retinoblastoma (Rb) is the most common eye cancer of early childhood, affecting one or both eyes. Usually forming in the first two years of life, some babies are born with cancer already growing.
Cure is above 98% in high-income countries, where most research takes place and the focus is saving sight. Most children with retinoblastoma live in low- and middle-income countries, where awareness and access to timely, appropriate medical care is limited. These discrepancies have led to a global survival rate estimated to be less than 40%.
Retinoblastoma has lifelong impacts including sight loss, increased risk of second primary cancers, and risk of survivors’ children also having eye cancer.
Low awareness, difficulty accessing specialist care and tailored support, and limited research globally leads to preventable stress and trauma, and suboptimal outcomes for many children, adult survivors, and families.
Thousands of curable children and adult survivors die each year.
Our Mission
World Eye Cancer Hope (WE C Hope) is committed to raising awareness and education around early diagnosis of retinoblastoma. We advocate for timely access to treatment, evidence-based care, and tailored psychosocial support for affected children, adult survivors, their families, and healthcare providers around the world.
We achieve this by:
- Educating the public and healthcare workers about retinoblastoma and second primary cancers to achieve early detection, timely diagnosis, and rapid referral to specialist care.
- Establishing family support programs that provide patients, families, and survivors a space to connect through online communities, events, and the One Retinoblastoma World conference.
- Empowering families, survivors, researchers, the global eye care and cancer communities, the imaging industry, and policymakers to develop sustainable, high-quality, evidence-based, patient-centered care.
Our Values
The Patient First: We prioritize the lifelong wellbeing and quality of care for every child, survivor, and family affected by retinoblastoma.
Excellence in Evidence-Based Care: We promote innovative, sustainable, evidence-based, and practical solutions that improve retinoblastoma care and maximize available resources worldwide.
Equity, Inclusion, and Access: We champion equitable access to diagnosis, treatment, psychosocial support, and lifelong care, regardless of geography, identity, disability, or socioeconomic status.
Community: We unite families, survivors, clinicians, researchers, advocates, industry leaders, policymakers, and supporters to improve outcomes and build hope worldwide. Together, we foster hope, reduce isolation, share knowledge and lived experience, and promote access to practical and psychosocial support throughout life.
Sustainability: We promote realistic, patient-focused, and sustainable retinoblastoma care programs supported by reliable resources, community leadership, and environmental responsibility in all communities across both resource-rich and resource-limited countries.
Organizational Goals
Advocacy: We amplify the voices of families and survivors as leaders, advocates, and partners in research, policy, and care development. Patient advocacy promotes systems that improve lifelong outcomes for all affected by retinoblastoma.
Awareness and Timely Diagnosis: We promote early detection of retinoblastoma to the public and medical professionals through education, advocacy, and access to training resources and diagnostic tools. The signs and symptoms of retinoblastoma include:
- Leukocoria: a white glow in the pupil, also known as “the glow.”
- Strabismus: crossed eye.
- Light sensitivity.
- Red, painful, or swollen eye.
Child Life: We promote compassionate, developmentally appropriate psychosocial care that helps children and families navigate the emotional, social, and practical challenges of retinoblastoma. Through child life techniques, patients, caregivers, and medical professionals build coping skills that reduce stress, improve understanding, and make medical procedures more manageable for everyone involved.
Collaboration: We believe teamwork, shared knowledge, mutual respect, and partnerships with organizations committed to improving outcomes for childhood cancer survivors accelerate progress toward sustainable, high-quality lifelong care. We foster a supportive environment that promotes collaboration, personal growth, shared learning, resilience, and celebration of success.
Survivorship: Through education and community support, we empower survivors of retinoblastoma to lead and advocate for their own lifelong follow-up care including genetic testing and counseling, mental and physical healthcare, and hereditary and second primary cancer risks associated with the RB1 gene change.
Upcoming Events
Learn about our work to improve care for children with eye cancer in Africa, our awareness campaigns, family support and global collaboration for evidence based care.
Meet Our Team
Meet the people dedicated to improving care for children, survivors and their families affected by retinoblastoma through our activities.
Our History
Find out how WE C Hope evolved from focus on one child to the pursuit of life and sight for every child with retinoblastoma across the country and around the world.
Donate and Give Hope
Every contribution makes a difference, whether through our online platform Givebutter, mailing a check, or hosting a fundraiser.
Fundraising
Experience the FUN in sharing hope with others by hosting a fundraiser, or join an event to help bring life and sight to children around the world.
Volunteer Opportunities
Find out our current volunteer needs and how you can help. We would love to talk with you about opportunities that fit you and your schedule.
Contact Us
We welcome your questions and feedback. Please read the highlighted information before contacting us about concerning photographs or help for a child.
