Rhabdomyosarcoma of Head and Neck -A Ten Year Review

ABSTRACT

Rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive malignant skeletal neoplasm arising from embryonal mesenchyme. It accounts for over 50% of all paediatric soft tissue tumours. It may OCCur in any site of tile body but the most common sites of tumor occurrence are orbit (12%) and head and neck (16%). Use of multimodality approach to treatment, including multidrug chemotherapy, radiotherapy has resulted in a dramatIc improvement in the outlook of affected children. Orbit has long been recognized as a favourable site as compared to other head and neck sites due to paucity of lymphatics and high response rates seen with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. A ten year relrosprvyibr analysis of 31 patients of Rhabdomyosarcomas of head and neck was done. The main outcome measures were age, gender, histopathologic type, treatment received ,follow up period. and eventual outcome. Most of our patients presented with an advanced stage. A complete response of 91.6% and 28.2% was seen in orbit and other non orbital head and neck sites respectively. The 5- year disease free survival in patients of orbital rhabdomyosarcoma was 83.3%