Prognostic significance and tumor biology of regional lymph node disease in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma: A report from the children's oncology group

Abstract

Purpose: Regional lymph node disease (RLND) is a component of the risk-based treatment stratification in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of RLND to prognosis for patients with RMS Patients and Methods: Patient characteristics and survival outcomes for patients enrolled onto Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study IV (N = 898, 1991 to 1997) were evaluated among the following three patient groups: nonmetastatic patients with clinical or pathologic negative nodes (N0, 696 patients); patients with clinical or pathologic positive nodes (N1, 125 patients); and patients with a single site of metastatic disease (77 patients) Results: Outcomes for patients with nonmetastatic alveolar N0 RMS were significantly better than for patients with N1 RMS (5-year failure-free survival [FFS], 73% v43%, respectively; 5-year overal survival [OS], 80% v46%, respectively; P