[The treatment results in children with malignant mesenchymal tumors according to the protocols of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP)].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the SIOP protocols in the treatment of mesenchymal tumors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We present the results obtained in 28 children diagnosed at a single pediatric hematology-oncology unit of having malignant mesenchymal tumors. These diagnoses were made between April 1981 and June 1994 and the children were treated following the consecutive SIOP protocols which have the objective of curing the disease with minimal sequelae. The first four patients with rhabdomyosarcoma were treated with MMT-SIOP 75, the next 9 children, also diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, were treated with MMT-SIOP 84. During the same period of time, there was a case of synovial sarcoma treated only with surgical excision. The last 14 patients were included in the current protocol, initiated in 1989. Eleven of these patients had rhabdomyosarcoma and 3 synovial sarcoma.

RESULTS

Overall survival and event-free survival at 5 years were 58% and 36%, respectively. Toxicity never was an important factor, although it was increasingly frequent and severe as protocols evolved.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that our results are similar to those obtained in patients treated with SIOP protocols.