Multimodality treatment of pediatric Ewing sarcoma: A single-center 10-year analysis of outcomes

Ewing sarcoma, a malignancy originating from the bone or soft tissues most commonly diagnosed in adolescents, requires multimodality therapy. Although both surgical resection and radiation therapy are effective local control modalities, there are limited data comparing outcomes in patients treated with surgery versus radiation. We sought to determine whether there were differences in 5-year local failure-free survival, event-free survival, and overall survival based on the modality used for local control.

Patients treated for Ewing sarcoma at a single tertiary pediatric hospital between 2010 and 2020 were included for retrospective analysis. Patient and tumor demographics, treatment information, and patient response to therapies were collected from the medical record. Outcome measures were local failure-free survival, event-free survival, and overall survival at 5 years from diagnosis.

Sixty-one patients met inclusion criteria. All patients received chemotherapy, and 68.9% of patients presented with localized disease. Of these, 23.8% were treated with radiation alone; the remaining 76.2% underwent resection ± radiation. A total of 52.4% of patients with localized disease achieved R0 resection. Only 3 patients experienced local progression; there was no difference between treatment groups. There was no significant association between local control modality and event-free survival or overall survival in patients with localized disease, regardless of margin status.

There was no significant difference in 5-year local failure-free survival, event-free survival, or overall survival in Ewing sarcoma patients treated with radiation versus surgery ± radiation, regardless of whether or not R0 resection was achieved. Future directions include a multi-institutional study to allow for further subgroup analysis and increased sample size.