The effect of age at diagnosis on outcome in rhabdomyosarcoma

• Published in: Cancer 1994-01, Vol.73 (1), p.109-117
• Main Authors: La Quaglia, Michael P., Heller, Glenn, Ghavimi, Fereshteh, Casper, Ephraim S., Vlamis, Vaia, Hajdu, Steven, Brennan, Murray F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; age; Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Combined Modality Therapy; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Extremities; Follow-Up Studies; Head and Neck Neoplasms - diagnosis; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; Head and Neck Neoplasms - therapy; Humans; Medical sciences; Multivariate Analysis; Neoplasm Staging; Prognosis; rhabdomyosarcoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma - diagnosis; Rhabdomyosarcoma - drug therapy; Rhabdomyosarcoma - pathology; Rhabdomyosarcoma - radiotherapy; Rhabdomyosarcoma - secondary; Rhabdomyosarcoma - surgery; Rhabdomyosarcoma - therapy; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar - diagnosis; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar - pathology; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar - secondary; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar - therapy; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal - diagnosis; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal - pathology; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal - secondary; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal - therapy; Risk Factors; Survival Rate; Treatment Outcome; Tumors of striated muscle and skeleton; Urogenital Neoplasms - diagnosis; Urogenital Neoplasms - pathology; Urogenital Neoplasms - therapy
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19940101)73:1<109::AID-CNCR2820730120>3.0.CO;2-S

Background. Survival for rhabdomyosarcoma appears to be more favorable in children and adolescents compared with adults. To determine the significance of age at diagnosis as a prognostic indicator in rhabdomyosarcoma, we performed a retrospective analysis of a combined pediatric and adult rhabdomyosarcoma data base. Methods. Pertinent prognostic variables, including age, TNM stage, histopathologic subtype, anatomic site, resectability, radiation to the primary site, and dose intensity of chemotherapy, were compared in a Cox proportional hazards model with mortality as the outcome variable. Results. Age at diagnosis (P = 0.0001) and local tumor invasiveness (P < 0.0001), distant parenchymal metastases (P < 0.0001), regional lymph node involvement (P = 0.0027), and histopathologic subtype (P = 0.0446) contributed information to the proportional hazards model. Conclusions. Age at diagnosis is an independent predictor of outcome in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma along with tumor invasiveness, metastases, regional lymph node involvement, and histopathologic subtype.