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Evaluation of clinical efficacy of Chemotherapy for Rhabdomyosarcoma in children
Zhaohui Ning1, Xiping Liu2, Guang Qin3
1Zhaohui Ning, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taian City Central Hospital, Shandong, 271000, China.
Insights
Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma often affects the head, neck, and trunk. Combined surgery and chemotherapy significantly improve treatment outcomes and prognosis for children with this rare cancer.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Cancer Research
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma affecting children.
- Understanding its clinical characteristics and treatment efficacy is crucial for improving patient outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the clinical features, treatment modalities, and efficacy of rhabdomyosarcoma in a pediatric cohort.
- To evaluate the impact of different treatment strategies on patient prognosis.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of clinical data from 30 children diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma between August 2013 and August 2017.
- Summarization of clinical characteristics, treatment regimens (surgery alone vs. surgery with chemotherapy), and evaluation of treatment outcomes and survival rates.
Main Results:
- The median age of affected children was 3.5 years, with common primary sites including the head/neck (13 cases) and trunk (11 cases).
- Embryonic rhabdomyosarcoma was the predominant subtype (25 cases).
- The combined surgery and chemotherapy group showed significantly better clinical efficacy and prognosis (46.7% complete remission, 63.3% 3-year overall survival) compared to surgery alone (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
- Rhabdomyosarcoma in children most commonly presents in the head, neck, and trunk, with the embryonic type being the most frequent pathological subtype.
- Comprehensive and standardized treatment, integrating surgery with chemotherapy, is essential for enhancing treatment effectiveness and improving the prognosis of pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma.
Objective:
To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment methods of rhabdomyosarcoma in children and the efficacy of the methods.
Methods:
The clinical data of 30 children with rhabdomyosarcoma who were admitted to our hospital from August 2013 to August 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical characteristics were summarized, and the curative effect and prognosis were evaluated.
Results:
Among all the children (N=30), there were 20 males and 10 females, with a median age of 3.5 years. As to the primary site, there were 13 cases of head and neck, 11 cases of trunk, three cases of urogenital system and three cases of limbs. There were 25 cases of embryonic type, 4 cases of alveolar type and one case of polymorphic type. As regards clinical stage, there were one case of stage I, 9 cases of stage II, 13 cases of stage III and 7 cases of stage IV. There were one case of low risk, 19 cases of medium risk and 10 cases of high risk. Eight cases received surgery alone, 22 cases received combined treatment of surgery and chemotherapy (the chemotherapeutics followed three schemes, low-risk group (VAC+VA), moderate risk group (VAC) and high risk group (alternating use of VDC and IE). Among all the cases (N=30), there were 14 cases of complete remission (CR), five cases of partial remission (PR), four cases of stable disease (SD), and 7 cases of progressive disease (PD). The CR rate was (N=14, 46.7%). The three-year overall survival (OS) rate was (N=19, 63.3%). The clinical efficacy and prognosis of children receiving surgery and chemotherapy were better than those of children receiving surgery alone, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion:
Rhabdomyosarcoma in children frequently happens in the head, neck and trunk. Embryonic type is the main pathological type of rhabdomyosarcoma. Comprehensive and standardized treatment based on surgery and chemotherapy is an important way to improve the curative effect in the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma in children.
