Abstract
The WHO Classification of Tumors of Soft Tissue and Bone divides rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) into alveolar, embryonal, pleomorphic, and spindle cell/sclerosing types. Advances in molecular diagnostics have allowed for further refinement of RMS classification including the identification of new subtypes. Very rare RMS with epithelioid and spindle cell morphology, female predominance, marked osseous predilection, ALK expression, EWSR1/FUS-TFCP2 gene fusions, and highly aggressive clinical behavior have recently been recognized with only 23 cases reported in the English language literature. Herein, we report two additional cases with detailed clinicopathologic description and molecular confirmation. In brief, two young women presented each with a primary bone tumor—one with a frontal bone tumor and another with an osseous pelvic tumor. Both tumors showed epithelioid to spindle cell morphology, ALK expression, and EWSR1/FUS-TFCP2 gene fusions. Both patients died of disease less than 17 months from diagnosis despite administration of multiple lines of aggressive treatment. In addition, we review the literature and discuss differential diagnostic and potential treatment considerations.
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John Chrisinger: Project planning, slide review, data gathering, data analysis, literature review, and manuscript writing
Bret Wehrli: Data gathering, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Brendan Dickson: Data analysis, next generation sequencing, and manuscript writing
Samir Fasih: Data gathering, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Angela Hirbe: Data gathering, data analysis, and manuscript writing
David Shultz: Data gathering, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Gelareh Zadeh: Data gathering, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Abha Gupta: Data gathering, data analysis, and manuscript writing
Elizabeth Demicco: Project planning, slide review, data gathering, data analysis, literature review, and manuscript writing
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Chrisinger, J.S., Wehrli, B., Dickson, B.C. et al. Epithelioid and spindle cell rhabdomyosarcoma with FUS-TFCP2 or EWSR1-TFCP2 fusion: report of two cases. Virchows Arch 477, 725–732 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-020-02870-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-020-02870-0