Rhabdomyosarcoma in infants under one year of age: experience of the Institut Gustave-Roussy.
Forty-three infants under 1 year of age (median 4 months) with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), representing 11% of all childhood RMS seen over the same period, were treated and followed between 1955 and 1984 at our institute. Compared to the 340 older children (1-16 years of age), there were no significant differences in male/female ratio, primary site, or clinical stage, but there was a higher frequency of alveolar and poorly differentiated histologic subtypes in infants aged under 1 year (P = 0.05 and P less than 0.001, respectively) and increased frequency of botryoid RMS in older children (P less than 0.02). Although children older than 1 year of age had a significantly higher complete remission rate (83% vs. 51%, P less than 0.001), their 5 year overall survival (43%) was no different from that of infants under 1 year of age (35%). In the older group there was no survival difference between alveolar (38%) and nonalveolar (44%) histologic subtypes, but in infants younger than 1 year, alveolar subtype had a significantly poorer prognosis (13% vs. 47%, P = 0.01). Management of patients at this age group is difficult and major advances are needed to increase survival rates with a minimum of morbidity.
Salloum
E
E
Department of Pediatrics, Institute Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France.
Flamant
F
F
Rey
A
A
Caillaud
J M
JM
Friedman
S
S
Valteau
D
D
Lemerle
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D016019:Survival Analysis