Lymphatic metastasis with childhood rhabdomyosarcoma.

Clinico-pathologic reviews of series of children with rhabdomyosarcoma have yielded conflicting information regarding frequency of lymphatic spread of this disease. The 264 eligible entries in the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (from November 1972 to September 1975) have been categorized by a prospective staging system and pre-treatment characteristics and pathologic findings reviewed. Data accumulated thus far have revealed a higher than expected incidence of lymphatic metastases from extremity (17%) and genito-urinary sites (19%) with a somewhat lower incidence from the orbit (0%), the head and neck region (3%), and trunk (10%). These differences in regard to lymphatic metastases were found to have no relationship to age, sex, tumor size, or histologic type when these factors were simultaneously examined.