Nate's Story The remarkable story of Nate's battle with rhabdomyosarcoma |  |  |
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Rhabdomyosarcoma is a tumor that involves the muscles of the body. Any muscle in the body may be involved. Pain and swelling are the most common symptom complaints for patients with rhabdomyosarcoma. When it is suspected that a patient has rhabdomyosarcoma, the diagnosis is confirmed using CT scans and MRI.
Diagnosis
Since rhabdomyosarcoma can spread widely throughout the body, examination of the bone marrow and imaging studies with CT scans of the chest, PET scans, and bone scans are done as part of the initial workup to evaluate how far the tumor has spread. These studies allow us to categorize patients with rhabdomyosarcoma into different risk groups (low, intermediate, or high) based on the extent of tumor involvement and the varying levels of expected treatment response. In addition, a biopsy is performed to make the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma.
Treatment
Therapy is tailored to the individual based on the level of risk assigned. Treatment consists of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and prevent new tumors from forming, as well as surgery to remove all areas of tumor involvement. Depending on the site of tumor involvement, radiation therapy is also used as a way to shrink the tumor. In general, patients in the low-risk group will require less therapy than patients in the high-risk group.
Our experience has shown that the majority of patients with rhabdomyosarcoma have a greater than 80 percent five-year survival rate when treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation therapy. For the minority of patients with tumors that recur or with tumors that have spread to other areas of the body, Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers several innovative treatment strategies, including novel combinations of chemotherapy agents, radiation therapy, and surgery. Based on laboratory studies conducted here, we offer a series of disease-specific clinical trials for this group of high-risk patients.
