Lymph Node Staging and Treatment in Pediatric Patients With Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Consensus Opinion From the Children’s Oncology Group, European paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group, and the Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studiengruppe

Terwisscha van Scheltinga S, Schoot RA, Routh JC, Seitz G, Kao SC, de Keizer B, Shulkin B, Ewijk RV, McCarville B, Casey D, Allen-Rhoades W, Mercolini F, Merks H, Orbach D, Kapadia T, Walterhouse DO, Davila Fajardo R, Hiemcke-Jiwa L, Franzius C, De Corti F, Tang V, Metts J, Oberoi S, Vokuhl C, Dasgupta R, Birz S, Rodeberg D. Lymph Node Staging and Treatment in Pediatric Patients With Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Consensus Opinion From the Children’s Oncology Group, European paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group, and the Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studiengruppe. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2025 Apr;72(4):e31538. doi: 10.1002/pbc.31538. Epub 2025 Jan 23. PMID: 39844722; PMCID: PMC12083081.

Accurate staging of nodal involvement in pediatric sarcoma patients is important to determine correct systemic and local therapy, with the goal to reduce subsequent recurrences. However, differences in lymph node staging strategies, definitions, and treatment protocols between the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), European paediatric Soft tissue sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG), and the Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studiengruppe (CWS), complicate comparisons. In this article we aim to establish internationally recognized recommendations for lymph node assessment and treatment of children and adolescents diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and non rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma {NRSTS) according to the Consensus Conference Standard Operating Procedure methodology.