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The effect of age at diagnosis on outcome in rhabdomyosarcoma
M P La Quaglia1, G Heller, F Ghavimi
1Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021.
Background:
Survival for rhabdomyosarcoma appears to be more favorable in children and adolescents compared with adults. To determine the significance of age at diagnosis as a prognostic indicator in rhabdomyosarcoma, we performed a retrospective analysis of a combined pediatric and adult rhabdomyosarcoma data base.
Methods:
Pertinent prognostic variables, including age, TNM stage, histopathologic subtype, anatomic site, resectability, radiation to the primary site, and dose intensity of chemotherapy, were compared in a Cox proportional hazards model with mortality as the outcome variable.
Results:
Age at diagnosis (P = 0.0001) and local tumor invasiveness (P < 0.0001), distant parenchymal metastases (P < 0.0001), regional lymph node involvement (P = 0.0027), and histopathologic subtype (P = 0.0446) contributed information to the proportional hazards model.
Conclusions:
Age at diagnosis is an independent predictor of outcome in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma along with tumor invasiveness, metastases, regional lymph node involvement, and histopathologic subtype.