Adolescents and young adults with rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group

Harrison DJ, Qumseya A, Xue W, Arnold M, Lautz TB, Hiniker SM, Thomas SM, Venkatramani R, Weiss AR, Mascarenhas L. Adolescents and young adults with rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Apr;71(4):e30847. doi: 10.1002/pbc.30847. Epub 2024 Jan 28. PubMed PMID: 38282125; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11078272.

The impact of established prognostic factors on survival outcomes for childhood rhabdomyosarcoma have not been well described in the adolescent and young adult (AYA) RMS patient population. This is a retrospective analysis of patients with newly diagnosed RMS enrolled between 1997 and 2016 on seven previously reported Children’s Oncology Group (COG) clinical trials. Demographics, clinical features, treatment details, and outcome data were collected. 5-year event-free-survival (EFS) and overall-survival (OS) were estimated for patients diagnosed at age 15–39 years and those diagnosed under age 15 years using the Kaplan-Meier method. Log-rank test was used to compare prognostic factors for EFS and OS. Factors significant in the univariable analysis were included in a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Non-significant covariates were removed from the multiple regression model.