Rhabdomyosarcoma are tumors that involve the muscles of the body. Any muscle in the body may be involved. Pain and swelling are the most common presenting complaints for patients with rhabdomyosarcoma. When a patient is suspected to have rhabdomyosarcoma, the diagnosis is confirmed using CT scans and MRI.
Screening & Diagnosis
Since rhabdomyosarcoma can spread widely throughout the body, examination of the bone marrow and radiologic imaging studies with CT scans of the chest, PET scans, and bone scans are done as part of the initial work-up to evaluate how far the tumor has spread. In addition, a piece of the tumor is removed by our surgeons to be examined by our pathologists who specialize in the diagnosis of sarcomas. These studies allow us to categorize patients with rhabdomyosarcoma into different "risk groups" (low, intermediate, or high) based on the extent of tumor involvement.
Treatment
These risk groups also allow us to tailor therapy based on the level of risk assigned. Treatment then consists of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and to prevent new tumors from forming, as well as surgery to remove all areas of tumor involvement. Depending on the site of tumor involvement, radiation therapy is also used as a way to shrink the tumor. Depending on risk group assigned, patients will receive different therapies. In general, in order to be cured of their sarcoma, patients in the low-risk group will require less therapy than patients in the high-risk group.
Our experience has shown that the majority of patients with rhabdomyosarcoma have a greater than 80 percent five-year survival rate when treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation therapy. For the minority of patients whose tumors recur or whose tumors have spread to other areas of the body, Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers several innovative treatment strategies, including novel combinations of chemotherapy agents, radiation therapy, and surgery. Based on laboratory studies conducted here, we offer a series of disease-specific clinical trials for this group of high-risk patients.
