Initial surgery for localized rhabdomyosarcoma: a report from the italian Soft Tissue Sarcoma Cooperative Group Studies.

Objective. Analysis of the initial surgical approach in patients with localized rhabdomyosarcoma, enrolled in Italian Studies (1979-2003). Methods. Surgical records of 587 patients were evaluated. As primary surgery, the excision was recommended if microscopically complete, otherwise biopsy was preferable. Results. The initial biopsy, performed in almost 50% of patients in RMS-79 protocol, has been adopted more often in the protocol RMS-88 and 96. However, the “complete resection” rate has remained quite stable through the years, as well as the percentage of microscopic residue. The macroscopic residue disease has been more important in RMS-88 study than in RMS-96. Most GUnBP tumors and abo…