OBJECTIVETo study the clinical response to comprehensive therapy in children with rhabdomyosarcoma.

METHODSClinical data of 13 children (8 males and 5 females) with rhabdomyosarcoma from January 1998 through October 2005 were retrospectively studied. Their ages ranged from 7 months to 12 years. The 13 cases of rhabdomyosarcoma consisted of 2 cases in stage I, 2 cases in stage II, 3 cases in stage III, and 6 cases in stage IV. Rhabdomyosarcoma was confirmed by biopsy, 12 cases (92.3%) presenting as embryonal type and 1 as alveolar type in histology. One patient underwent surgery treatment alone, one patient received surgery plus local radiation treatment, one patient received surgery plus chemotherapy and 10 patients were administered with a combination of surgery, local radiation treatment and chemotherapy. The chemotherapy protocol before 2002 was VDCA, VAC or VadrC. After 2002, the COG protocol was employed, with CDV+IE for stage III, and CT+VAC or CT+VAC+VCT for stage IV patients.

RESULTSThe 2-year overall survival was 60% in the 10 patients who received a combination of surgery, local radiation treatment and chemotherapy, but the three patients died without receiving combination therapy. The 2-year overall survival in the 13 patients was 46.2%. The 2-year overall survival of the patients after 2002 (60%, 3/5) was higher than that before 2002 (37.5%, 3/8).

CONCLUSIONSEmbryonal rhabdomyosarcoma dominates the histology type in children, which is highly malignant. A combination therapy of surgery, local radiation and chemotherapy can result in a satisfactory therapeutic effect in children with rhabdomyosarcoma.