[Clinicopathological characteristics and therapeutic effects of adult rhabdomyosarcoma patients]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of adult rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) patients. Methods: The clinical data of 34 adult RMS patients were retrospectively analyzed. Based on their intervention and treatment, patients were divided into operation group (n=7), chemotherapy group (n=8) and operation plus chemotherapy group (n=19). The clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of the three groups were compared. Results: A statically significant difference was found in IRSG surgical-pathological stage among the three groups (P=0.026), while no significant difference existed in gender, age of disease onset, primary site, tumor size, pathological subtypes and IRSG risk group in the three groups (all P>0.05). In the operation group, three CR, one PR, one SD and two PD were achieved and one CR, one PR, one SD and five PD were obtained in the chemotherapy group. While in the chemotherapy plus operation group, four CR, twelve PR, one SD and two PD were achieved. A significant difference was found in response (P=0.043) and median overall survival (OS) (P=0.036) among the three groups, which were 44.7, 26.9 and 53.6 months, respectively. Conclusions: Pleomorphic RMS was the main histological subtype for adult RMS patients, and the prognosis for adult RMS was usually poorer than that for pediatric RMS patients. Single therapeutic approach could not achieve satisfactory outcomes, while multimodal treatment consisted of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are helpful to improve the prognosis of adult patients with RMS.