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. 2025 Sep 9;41(1):290.
doi: 10.1007/s00383-025-06112-9.

Long-term complications in patients with bladder-prostate rhabdomyosarcoma treated with brachytherapy: a systematic review

Giulia Brooks  1 , Filippo Ghidini  2   3 , Calogero Virgone  4 , Federica De Corti  4
Affiliations

Long-term complications in patients with bladder-prostate rhabdomyosarcoma treated with brachytherapy: a systematic review

Giulia Brooks et al. Pediatr Surg Int. .

Abstract

Introduction: Brachytherapy has been used for the multimodal treatment of pediatric bladder-prostate rhabdomyosarcoma in the last two decades. The aim of this systematic review is to gather the current evidence about this innovative technique with a special focus on long-term outcomes.

Methods: According to PRISMA criteria, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for papers published between 2000 and 2022.

Results: The search yielded 7338 papers but only seven were eligible, for a total of 196 children with a median age ranging from 23 to 32 months and a median follow-up ranging from eight to 64 months. The five-year overall survival was superior to 90%. However, at least one complication involving the urogenital apparatus was reported in 66 children (35%).

Conclusion: Brachytherapy presented positive outcomes in terms of overall survival. On the other hand, further efforts should be made to decrease the risk of functional urogenital side effects.

Keywords: Brachytherapy; Children; Long-term outcomes; Rhabdomyosarcoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of the search and screening process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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