Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Report of twenty-four cases and study of the effectiveness of radiation therapy upon the primary tumor

✍ Scribed by Alvah J. Nelson III

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1968
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 440 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(196807)22:1<64::aid-cncr2820220110>3.0.co;2-v

✦ Synopsis

Twenty-four cases of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma seen over a period of 16 years were reviewed a n d the effectiveness of radiation therapy o n the primary tumor was studied. T h e results in 13 patients treated by radiation therapy alone and in combination with surgery a n d chemotherapy indicate that this tumor is moderately radiosensitive a n d can be locally controlled for significant periods of time with radiation therapy. Many patients whose primary lesion has been controlled will die of metastatic disease. I n spite of this fact the three patients in this series who survived more than 5 years justify a n optimistic approach to the treatment of this disease.

XIBRYONAL KHAUDOMYOSARCOMA IS A N UN-E common but highly malignant neoplasm which occurs mainly in children and young adults. T h e tumor arises from striated muscle. During the past 10 years there has been an increasing number of cases reported in the literature which has been reviewed by several authors.5. 10, 11 During the year 1965 at least three excellent papers dealing with this subject were published; however, as observed by Edland, the literature contains little information regarding the details of radiation therapy in this disease.2, 8, 12 Recent experience with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in the Section of Radiation Therapy of the Robert Winship Memorial Clinic has stimulated the author to review the following cases and to study the effectiveness of radiation therapy in the treatment of the primary lesion.

MATERIAL

T h e cases included in this report were obtained from the records of the Emory University Tumor Registry and the Henrietta Egleston Hospital for children. Only those patients having pathologically proved diagnoses of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma were in-