Rhabdomyosarcoma

A rare form of Cancer,  is a swiftly-spreading, vastly cancerous tumor that constitutes about half the cases of soft tissue sarcomas among infants. Less recurrently, other forms of soft tissue sarcomas are observed to affect infants namely fibrosarcoma, mesenchymoma, synovial sarcoma and liposarcoma. That is what in medical terms called Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Rhabdomyosarcoma symptoms

• Rhabdomyosarcoma mostly leads to a conspicuous lumpy appearance on the body of the child.
• In case the tumor is internally situated, then the symptoms arising would be dependent on its site. For instance, tumors that develop in the nasal passage could exert strain on the Eustachian tubes; tumor arising in the orbit of the eyes known as orbital tumor could make the eyes appear protruding whereas a tumor located in the bladder could lead to difficulty in urination.

Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer

Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer originates from a cell known as the ‘rhabdomyoblast’ – a primal muscle cell. Rather than differentiate into striated muscle cells, these rhabdomyoblasts show uninhibited growth. As this form of muscle is situated all through the body, the tumors could make their appearance felt in several spots. The 4 key locations where rhabdomyosarcoma are detected:

• Found in thirty-five to forty percent of the times in the regions of the head and neck, around the ocular area.
• About twenty percent of the occasions in the genitourinary tract.
• The extremities are affected in fifteen to twenty percent of the times.
• On ten to fifteen percent of the occasions it is found in the chest and lungs.

Depending on the manner in which the cells appear microscopically, the tumors are categorised as follows:

• Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma
  The most prevalent form generally noted in kids below fifteen years of age in the areas of the head, neck and genitourinary tract.
• Botryoid type of rhabdomyosarcoma
  A variation of the embryonal form wherein the tumor develops as lesions having grape-similar appearance in the mucosa that line concave organs like the vagina and the urinary bladder.
• Alveolar type of rhabdomyosarcoma
  A more belligerent form of tumor that generally affects the muscles present in the extremities or the chest or lungs.
• Pleomorphic type of rhabdomyosarcoma
  This form of tumor is generally found among grownups and develops in the muscles present in the extremities.

From all the types of rhabdomyosarcoma, the Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is deemed to be have the maximum treatability. The chances of recovery are also dependent on the placing of the primary tumor. Rhabdomyosarcomas of the orbital and genitor-urinary track have relatively more chances of recovery as compared to the tumors found in the head, neck, extremities, pelvis, chest and lungs.

The likelihood of recovery is additionally dependent on the staging of the tumor.

Figures

• Rhabdomyosarcoma constitutes five to eight percent of childhood cancers.
• Seventy percent of all the types of rhabdomyosarcomas are detected in the initial 10 years subsequent to birth.
• Generally, rhabdomyosarcoma is found in infants aged two to six years and in between fifteen to nineteen years old.
• The highest occurrence in the infants in the ages of one to five years.
• On the whole, fifty percent of the infants detected with rhabdomyosarcoma have a survival rate of five years.