Problems of local recurrence in patients with Ewing's sarcoma

With the increasing longevity of patients with Ewing's sarcoma not only the long term tissue effects of local treatment are important, but also the management of patients who develop local recurrent disease. Of our 42 patients with Ewing's sarcoma, 33 were treated by irradiation and 7 of them developed a recurrence. The reasons of failure to control the primary tumor are analysed in the light of present experience and guidelines for the management of the recurrence are discussed. With optimal combination therapy it is hoped, that a proportion of patients with recurrent disease can be salvaged.