Treatment of Rhabdomyosarcoma

Handling of rhabdomysarcoma cases can be done based on the tissue from which the cancer grows and the stage of the rhabdomyosarcoma itself. Handling options that can be done include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.

Operation

Surgery is performed on a tumor that is still possible to remove. The purpose of this action is to remove the main tumor and surrounding tissue, making it clean of cancer cells. If the tumor is too large or is in a difficult location to be removed, surgery may be delayed and preceded by chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy aims to reduce tumor size before surgery and reduce the risk of recurrent cancer after surgery. In chemotherapy, the drugs used to treat rhabdomysarcoma are vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and etoposide.

Radiotherapy

In addition to chemotherapy, radiation therapy can also be done to kill cancer cells that can not be removed. Radiotherapy is usually combined with chemotherapy. Radiation is usually given for 5 days a week, and is done for several weeks, with the duration of each session being about 15-30 minutes.