Ewing's sarcoma was first described here at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 1921 by Dr. James Ewing. It is a tumor that involves the bone as well as the soft tissue. It tends to appear in the middle area of bones — most often in the femur, pelvis, ribs, upper arm, and thigh. Annually, approximately 300 to 400 new cases are diagnosed in the United States. Pain and swelling are the most common presenting complaints for patients with Ewing sarcoma.
Diagnosis
When a physician suspects that a patient has Ewing's sarcoma, the diagnosis is confirmed using x-rays, CT scans, and MRI. Since Ewing sarcoma can spread widely throughout the body, examination of the bone marrow and imaging studies with CT scans of the chest as well as bone scans and PET scans are done as part of the initial workup to evaluate how far the tumor has spread. In addition, a biopsy is performed to make the diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma.
Treatment
Once a diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma has been confirmed, patients will be treated with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and to prevent new tumors from forming. Patients also undergo surgery to remove all areas of tumor involvement. Depending on the site of tumor involvement, radiation therapy may also be used to treat Ewing's sarcoma. Standard chemotherapy medications in Ewing's sarcoma include vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, and etoposide. Patients treated for Ewing sarcoma here have the highest long-term survival rates in the nation — an 85 percent five-year survival rate when treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation therapy.
Treatment for patients with relapsed disease is individualized based on the therapy previously received. Additional surgery and/or radiation therapy are possible treatment approaches. Based on laboratory studies conducted here at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, we offer a series of innovative, disease-specific clinical trials for this group of high-risk patients.
