Prognostic factors of pediatric pelvic and genitourinary rhabdomyosarcoma: An analysis based on SEER database

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft-tissue sarcomas in children. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors of pelvic and genitourinary RMS in children and evaluate the survival outcomes of these children treated with or without radiation therapy (RT).

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) database was required for children with pelvic and genitourinary RMS. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, Cox proportional hazards models, and propensity score-matched analyses.

For the 262 patients analyzed, the most common biological subtypes were embryonic (n=209, 79.8%) and alveolar (n=29, 11.1%). Patients with alveolar RMS had the worst prognosis (P < 0.05). The testis (n=122, 46.6%) was the most common location, followed by the urinary bladder (n=57, 21.8%) and prostate (n=48, 18.3%). Uterus RMS had the highest survival rate, followed by testis, urinary bladder, and prostate RMS. Favorable prognostic factors were age at diagnosis < 15 years, non-alveolar histological subtype, early tumor stage (localized/regional), specific sites (uterus and testis), and treatment (cancer-directed surgery and chemotherapy) (P < 0.05). Propensity score-matched analyses comparing the cohorts of patients treated with or without RT demonstrated no significant differences in prognostic survival (OS: P=0.872, CSS: P=0.713).

The nomogram constructed based on independent prognostic factors may accurately predict survival rates at 1 and 5 years. Surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy can be effective treatments, but RT fails to guarantee a survival benefit. Therefore, prospective trials evaluating RT for pediatric pelvic and genitourinary RMS are warranted.