Childhood Cancers: Ewing's Sarcoma

Description

The Ewing's family of tumours are rare diseases in which malignant, cancer cells are found in the bone and soft tissues. Ewing's family of tumours most frequently occurs in teenagers and include:

• Ewing's tumour of bone.
• Extraosseus Ewing's (tumour growing outside of the bone).
• Primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET), also know as peripheral neuroepithelioma .
• Askin's tumour (PNET of the chest wall).

Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

If a patient has symptoms (such as pain, stiffness, or tenderness in the bone) the doctor may order x-rays and other tests. The doctor may also perform a biopsy. The tissue will be looked at under a microscope to see if there are any cancer cells. This test may be done in the hospital.

Three kinds of treatment are used: surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The prognosis and choice of treatment depend on the location, size, and stage of the cancer, how the cancer cells react to the treatment, and the patient's age and general health.

The information in this page is presented in summarised form and has been taken from the following source(s):
1. Pediatric Cancers, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center: http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/