• S L Wolden, J R Anderson, W M Crist, J C Breneman, M D Wharam, E S Wiener, S J Qualman, and S S Donaldson.
• Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA.
• J. Clin. Oncol. 1999 Nov 1; 17 (11): 3468-75.

PurposeTo evaluate the outcome of patients with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) treated with complete surgical resection and multiagent chemotherapy, with or without local radiotherapy (RT).Patients And MethodsFour hundred thirty-nine patients with completely resected (ie, group I) RMS were further treated with chemotherapy (vincristine and actinomycin D +/- cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin) on Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Studies (IRS) I to III between 1972 and 1991. Eighty-three patients (19%) also received local RT as a component of initial treatment.ResultsEighty-six patients relapsed (10-year failure-free survival [FFS] 79%, overall survival 89%). Six percent of failure sites were local, 6% were regional, and 7% were distant. Poor prognostic factors were tumor size greater than 5 cm, alveolar or undifferentiated histology, primary tumor sites other than genitourinary, and treatment on IRS-I or II. For patients with embryonal RMS who were treated with RT, there was a trend for improved FFS but no difference in overall survival. On IRS-I and II, patients with alveolar or undifferentiated sarcoma who received RT compared with those who did not receive RT had greater 10-year FFS rates (73% v 44%, respectively; P =.03) and overall survival rates (82% v 52%, respectively; (P =.02). Such patients who received RT on IRS III also benefited more than those who did not receive RT (10-year FFS, 95% v 69%; P =.01; overall survival, 95% v 86%; P =.23).ConclusionPatients with group I embryonal RMS have an excellent prognosis when treated with adjuvant multiagent chemotherapy without RT. Patients with alveolar RMS or undifferentiated sarcoma fare worse; however, FFS and overall survival are substantially improved when RT is added to multiagent chemotherapy (IRS-I and II). The best outcome occurred in IRS-III, when RT was used in conjunction with intensified chemotherapy.

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