Rhabdomyosarcoma
What is rhabdomyosarcoma?
What causes rhabdomyosarcoma?
What are the symptoms of rhabdomyosarcoma?
Symptoms depend on where the rhabdomyosarcoma develops. They include:
Your child may have problems related to the specific part of the body affected by cancer, such as:
Rhabdomyosarcoma in a child’s arms and legs will often spread, especially to the lungs, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. This doesn’t usually cause symptoms.
How can doctors tell if my child has rhabdomyosarcoma?
Doctors suspect rhabdomyosarcoma from your child's symptoms. To know for sure if your child has rhabdomyosarcoma, doctors will:
If your child has cancer, doctors will do tests to see if it has spread. They'll:
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Do a CT scan of your child’s chest
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Inject a small amount of a radioactive substance to make a picture of the inside of the child's body (radionuclide scan)
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Taking a sample of bone marrow (bone marrow biopsy) to look for cancer
It's easier to treat rhabdomyosarcoma if it hasn't spread.
How do doctors treat rhabdomyosarcoma?
To treat rhabdomyosarcoma, doctors will do:
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Surgery to remove the cancer
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Sometimes, radiation therapy
