Rhabdomyosarcoma in Thai children.

Twenty-six cases of rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosed from a total of 845 Thai children with childhood malignancy who had been treated at the Department of Pediatrics Ramathibodi Hospital, from May 1970 to December 1982 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 16 boys and 10 girls, aged 3 months to 13 years old (mean age was 5.6 +/- 4.1 years old). The common type was the embryonal cell sarcoma (19 cases), 3 cases were undetermined, 2 cases of alveolar cell type and one each of the pleomorphic and undifferentiated cell type. Only 2 cases had stage II disease, 10 and 14 cases were stage III and IV respectively. The common locations were head and neck (10 cases), abdomen (8 cases including one in the uterus, scrotum and 3 in the urinary bladder), and in 7 cases in the extremities. One patient had small lesion at the buttock. The treatment consisted of surgery, radiation therapy, actinomycin, vincristine and cyclophosphamide. Eight cases were lost to follow-up, 10 cases were discharged in advanced stage after been treated for 6.2 +/- 4 months, 4 cases had no evidence of disease for 2 to 7.5 years, 4 cases died after 4 to 27 months of treatment. The poor result obtained was probably due to the late stages of the disease at diagnosis, and limitations in the use of effective medications.