Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterine cervix in a 47-year-old woman

Abstract

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) of the female genital tract usually occurs in the vagina during childhood. The uterine cervix as a primary site is rare, but is more frequent until the second decade of life. It usually has a good prognosis and the treatment is based on multidrug chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. RMS accounts for <5% of all adult soft tissue sarcomas. Previous reports that included all primary sites showed a poorer five-year disease specific survival for adults with RMS when compared to the pediatric population. This difference has been attributed to a higher proportion of adverse prognostic clinical and pathological factors, and to inadequate treatment given to adults with RMS. A total of 115 patients with cervical embryonal RMS have previously been described; however, only 10 cases were reported in women older than 40 years. We present a 47-year-old woman treated with radical hysterectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and review the current literature.