Therapy for childhood soft-tissue sarcomas other than rhabdomyosarcoma: a review of 62 cases treated at a single institution.

The rarity and diverse characteristics of the nonrhabdomyosarcomatous soft-tissue sarcomas (NRSTS) in children have hindered study of their clinical presentations and response to therapy. Here we describe the findings of a retrospective analysis of 62 cases of NRSTS seen in a single institution from 1962 through 1983. The most common histopathologic diagnosis was synovial sarcoma, occurring in 18 patients, followed by malignant schwannoma in 12. The median age at diagnosis was 11 years (range, 2 months to 20 years). Anatomic sites of primary tumors were the trunk (28), extremity (24), and head and neck (10). Of the 31 patients whose tumors were completely resected, 26 (84%) survive with no evidence of disease. Postoperative chemotherapy, administered to nearly one half of this group, did not produce any demonstrable gains in survival. Only one of the 26 patients with local or metastatic gross tumor after resection survives. We conclude that an aggressive surgical approach is imperative in patients with NRSTS and that the contribution of other treatment modalities needs to be defined in a collaborative group trial.