New Aspects in the Treatment of Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma: Results of the German Cooperative Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Study (CWS-81)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Prior to the introduction of chemotherapy only 10–20% of children suffering from rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) were successfully treated by surgery alone [1–4]. The introduction of combined multi-agent cytostatic therapy in the last 15 years has led to a dramatic improvement in the cure rate obtained in RMS patients [5–8]. Effective chemotherapy has not only increased the disease-free survival rate but has by and large also made it possible to avoid the mutilations inevitably associated with extensive surgery: for example, cystectomy, amputation or orbital resection.