INTEGRATED MULTIMODALITY THERAPY FOR EMBRYONAL RHABDOMYOSARCOMA OF THE LOWER GENITAL-TRACT IN POSTPUBERTAL FEMALES

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the female lower genital tract is genera lly regarded as a neoplasm occurring in childhood, but has also been r eported in adults. The philosophy of therapy, largely based on data ob tained from pediatric patients, has evolved slowly from ultraradical s urgery, without adjuvant therapy, to neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by less radical surgery and postoperative radiation. We report here t hree cases of lower genital tract rhabdomyosarcoma in postpubertal fem ales. A failure to observe complete responses from any single treatmen t modality suggests that for embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in adult and a dolescent women a multimodality approach to therapy is essential. (C) 1998 Academic Press.