title: Rhabdomyosarcoma treatment and outcome at a multidisciplinary pediatric cancer center in Lebanon.
abstract: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. Outcome of patients treated on standard protocols, in a multidisciplinary cancer center setting outside of clinical trials, is not well reported. We reviewed characteristics and outcome of 23 pediatric patients treated at a single, multidisciplinary cancer center in Lebanon, between April 2002 and December 2010. Median follow-up was 41 months. The most commonly affected primary site was the head and neck (48%, n = 11). Nineteen tumors (82.6%) were of embryonal histology. Tumor size was ≥5 cm in eight (34.8%) patients. Sixteen patients (69.6%) had localized disease, and one (4.4%) had metastatic disease. Fifteen (65.2%) had Group III tumors. All patients received chemotherapy, for a duration ranging 21-51 weeks. Upfront surgical resection was performed in 10 patients (43.5%). Eighteen patients (78.3%) received radiation therapy. The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were 83% and 64%, respectively. Relapse correlated with absence of surgery. Treatment of childhood RMS in a multidisciplinary cancer center in Lebanon results in similar survival to that in developed countries when similar protocols are applied. There was a higher incidence of local relapse, but those were salvageable with further therapy and surgical local control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Maysaa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salman
authors.forename: Hani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamim
authors.forename: Fouad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Medlej
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: El-Ariss
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saad
authors.forename: Fouad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boulos
authors.forename: Toufic
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eid
authors.forename: Samar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muwakkit
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khoury
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abboud
authors.forename: Raya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saab
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate