The prognostic significance of anaplasia in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the Children’s Oncology Group

Shenoy A, Alvarez E, Chi YY, Li M, Shern JF, Khan J, Hiniker SM, Granberg CF, Hawkins DS, Parham DM, Teot LA, Rudzinski ER. The prognostic significance of anaplasia in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the Children’s Oncology Group. Eur J Cancer. 2021 Jan;143:127-133. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2020.10.018. Epub 2020 Dec 7. PubMed PMID: 33302115; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8842073.

Established prognostic indicators in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most common childhood soft tissue sarcoma, include several clinicopathologic features. Among pathologic features, anaplasia has been suggested as a potential prognostic indicator, but the clinical significance of anaplasia remains unclear. Patients enrolled on one of five recent Children’s Oncology Group clinical trials for RMS (D9602, n=357; D9802, n=80; D9803, n=462; ARST0331, n=335; and ARST0531, n = 414) with prospective central pathology review were included in this study. Clinicopathologic variables including demographic information, risk group, histologic subtype, and anaplasia were recorded along with overall survival (OS) and failure-free survival (FFS) with failure defined by recurrence, progression or death. The log-rank test was used to compare OS and FFS.