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Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma in India: A single-center experience

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Abstract

Objective

Analyze the profile and outcome of children with rhabdomyosarcoma from a pediatric-oncology unit.

Design

Retrospective analysis of case records over 23 years (1990–2012).

Setting

Government-run, tertiary-care, university hospital in Northern India.

Participants

159 children (<12-years) with a diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma were enrolled. The median age was 4 years; 13% were infants.

Main outcome measure

Five-year event free survival.

Results

The median symptom interval was 2-months. Head and neck region was the most frequent site (44%), followed by tumors in the extremity (15.7%). The majority (67%) of the tumors were located at ‘unfavorable’ sites; 68% were >5 cm in size. The most frequent (58%) pathological subtype was embryonal. Treatment was based on the ‘Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS) Group’ risk-stratification. 33% were ‘low-risk’ children, 11% were ‘high-risk’. Treatment-refusal (18%) and abandonment (33%) were major impediments. The median ± SE five-year event free survival of those taking treatment was 43.6 ± 6%.

Conclusions

Large sized tumors, tumors at unfavorable locations, and treatment refusal/abandonment contributed to inferior outcome in children with rhabdomyosarcoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Hematology/Oncology unit, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatrics Center, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Deepak Bansal, Anirban Das & Amita Trehan

  2. Department of Radiotherapy, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Rakesh Kapoor

  3. Department of Otolaryngology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Naresh K. Panda

  4. Department of Cytology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Radhika Srinivasan

  5. Department of Histopathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Nandita Kakkar

  6. Department of Radiodiagnosis, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Kushaljit S. Sodhi & Akshay K. Saxena

  7. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

    Katragadda Lakshmi Narasimha Rao

Authors
  1. Deepak Bansal
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  2. Anirban Das
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  3. Amita Trehan
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  4. Rakesh Kapoor
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  5. Naresh K. Panda
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  6. Radhika Srinivasan
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  7. Nandita Kakkar
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  8. Kushaljit S. Sodhi
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  9. Akshay K. Saxena
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  10. Katragadda Lakshmi Narasimha Rao
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Correspondence to Deepak Bansal.

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Bansal, D., Das, A., Trehan, A. et al. Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma in India: A single-center experience. Indian Pediatr 54, 735–738 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-017-1164-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-017-1164-5

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