Rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas of childhood.

Childhood rhabdomyosarcoma and the other soft tissue sarcomas of childhood are a heterogeneous group of tumors with many histologic subtypes, affecting multiple anatomic locations and requiring the care of subspecialists from a variety of disciplines. Epidemiologic studies of childhood sarcomas indicate that a familial predisposition to malignancy may contribute to tumorigenesis in a proportion of patients. Diagnosis of these tumors may be difficult; immunohistochemical and cytogenetic analysis is clearly important. Large cooperative group studies have answered important treatment questions in past years; these studies are now being analyzed for clues to effective treatment of specific histologic and anatomic subgroups. The Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study IV is now open and the questions addressed are reviewed. New developments in late effects of therapy for childhood sarcoma are considered.