Clinicopathological characteristics and treatment outcomes of Chinese patients with genitourinary embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma

BACKGROUND Genitourinary embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is rarely reported in China. This retrospective analysis aimed to characterize the clinicopathologic features and treatment outcomes of genitourinary embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in a sample of Chinese patients. METHODS Basic demographic and clinical data of 29 patients, who were diagnosed with genitourinary embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma between January 2000 and December 2011, were retrieved and analyzed. RESULTS In these patients, 25 were males and 4 were females with a median age of 12 years. Paratesticule was the most common lesion site, followed by the prostate, bladder, and vagina. The median tumor size was 5.80 cm. Six patients had clinically positive regional nodes. At the initial diagnosis, patients had a metastatic disease. According to the TNM staging classification for the IRS-IV, phase I lesions were detected in ten cases, phase II lesions in six cases, phase III lesions in four cases, and phase IV lesions in nine cases. The median survival of all patients was 63 (range from 6 to 118) months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates for these patients were 93%, 83%, and 52%, respectively. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that staging and anemia were significant predictors of prognosis. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that metastasis predicts a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy played an important role in comprehensive treatment. Palliative and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy could increase median survival time.