Childhood rhabdomyosarcoma: a review of 35 cases and literature.

Unlabelled: BCKGROUND: Rhabdomyosarcoma is one of the most frequent soft tissue sarcomas in children. It constitutes a unique group of soft tissue sarcomas found in children, primarily infants, toddlers and preschool pupils.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to examine all the cases of histologically confirmed childhood rhabdomyosarcomas; to re-examine the review pattern, and review recent advances in the biology of this neoplasm.

Materials And Methods: the sample consisted of 35 histologically confirmed rhabdomyosarcomas between January, 1996 and 2005. The specimens consisted of excision, incision and tru-cut biopsies. Fresh sections were cut from paraffin bedded tissue blocks and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The slides were reviewed by three pathologists. The sites of biopsies were noted from the referral forms.

Results: Thirty five cases of paediatric rhabdomyosarcomas were recorded out of a total of 55 cases during the period of study. This represents 63.6% of all cases of rhabdomyosarcomas. The commonest anatomical sites were head and neck regions which accounted for 21 cases of the 35, while retroperitoneal, vagina and testis accounted for 8, 3 and 3 respectively. The highest proportion of cases occurred in ages 6-15 years. The embryonal subtype accounted for highest proportion, followed by alveolar, pleomorphic and spindle types respectively.

Conclusion: This study shows that childhood rhabdomyosarcomas are prevalent in this region, and that the most prevalent of the variants is embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. The commonest anatomical sites were head and neck regions and the highest proportion of cases occurred in ages 6-15 years.