Rhabdomyosarcomas and other soft tissue sarcomas in pediatric patients.

Current therapy for childhood sarcomas, particularly rhabdomyosarcomas, is a multidisciplinary effort requiring input from various specialists. Significant progress has been made in lower-stage disease because of advances in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, but cure rates remain poor in high-stage lesions, and there is significant morbidity after treatment of lesions with a favorable outcome. Histologic classification is not always predictive of behavior, but recent modifications promise better prognostic significance. Great advances have also been made in our understanding of the biology of these lesions; these advances offer the promise of future therapeutic applicability. Detection of genetic alterations in predisposed individuals is possible but raises several significant nontherapeutic issues.