Abstract
Although an increased incidence of de novo malignancies is reported in transplant recipients, rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive mesenchymal tumor typical of childhood, is not considered a neoplasm commonly related to immunosuppression. A 21-year-old woman presented with unilateral diplopia and proptosis 16 months after liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure. A tumoral mass originating from the medial rectus muscle was partially removed and diagnosed as being an embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Since the patient refused complete orbital excision, one course of radiotherapy and six courses of chemotherapy were administered, while immunosuppression was re-modulated, without interruption of the administration of cyclosporine. Complete control of tumor growth was achieved, while no alterations of graft function were observed throughout the treatment period.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barr FG (1997) Molecular genetics and pathogenesis of rhabdomyosarcoma. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 19:483–491
Cacciarelli TV, Green M, Jaffe R, Mazariegos GV, Jain A, Fung JJ, Reyes J (1998) Management of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease in pediatric liver transplant recipients receiving primary tacrolimus (FK506) therapy. Transplantation 66:1047–1052
Crist WM, Garnsey L, Beltangady MS, Gehan E, Ruymann F, Webber B, Hays DM, Wharam M, Maurer HM (1990) Prognosis in children with rhabdomyosarcoma: a report of the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Studies I and II. J Clin Oncol 8:443–452
Crist W, Gehan EA, Ragab AH, Dickman PS, Donaldson SS, Fryer C, Hammond D, Hays DM, Herrmann J, Heyn R, Morris Jones P, Lawrence W, Newton W, Ortega J, Raney RB, Ruymann FB, Tefft M, Webber B, Wiener E, Wharam M, Vietti TJ, Maurer HM (1995) The Third Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study. J Clin Oncol 13:610–630
Guba M, von Breitenbuch P, Steinbauer M, Koehl G, Flegel S, Hornung M, Bruns CJ, Zuelke C, Farkas S, Anthuber M, Jauch KW, Geissler EK (2002) Rapamycin inhibits primary and metastatic tumor growth by antiangiogenesis: involvement of vascular endothelial growth factor. Nat Med 8:128–135
Harmer MH (1982) TNM classification of paediatric tumors. International Union Against Cancer, Geneva
La Quaglia MP, Heller G, Ghavimi F, Casper ES, Vlamis V, Hajdu S, Brennan MF (1994) The effect of age at diagnosis on outcome in rhabdomyosarcoma. Cancer 73:109–117
Maurer HM, Gehan EA, Beltangady M, Crist W, Dickman PS, Donaldson SS, Fryer C, Hammond D, Hays DM, Herrmann J, Heyn R, Morris Jones P, Lawrence W, Newton W, Ortega J, Ragab AH, Raney RB, Ruymann FB, Soule E, Tefft M, Webber B, Wiener E, Wharam M, Vietti TJ (1993) The Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study-II. Cancer 71:1904–1922
McManus AP, Gusterson BA, Pinkerton CR, Shipley JM (1996) The molecular pathology of small round-cell tumors. Relevance to diagnosis, prognosis and classification. J Pathol 178:116–121
Penn I (1996) Posttransplant de novo tumors in liver allograft recipients. Liver Transpl Surg 2:52–59
Rheeder P, Simson IW, Mentis H, Karusseit VOL (1995) Cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma in a renal transplant patient. Transplantation 60:204–205
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Cescon, M., Grazi, G.L., Assietti, R. et al. Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the orbit in a liver transplant recipient. Transpl Int 16, 437–440 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00147-003-0571-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00147-003-0571-9