Management head and neck Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumors : experience of the national cancer institute, Cairo University

Abstract EN

Background: Ewing’s sarcoma accounts for 4-6 % of primary malignant bone tumors and it affects the head and neck in only 1-4 % of cases.

The purpose of this study was to review the NCI experience with Ewing’s sarcoma of the head and neck in children Patients and Methods : A retrospective analysis of patient files with head and neck Ewing’s sarcoma treated at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Egypt, during the period from 1997 to 2008 was done.

Files were reviewed and data for patients, tumor and treatment profile were extracted.

Results : Twenty patients out of 280 with Ewing’s sarcoma were identified during an 11-year period.

Patients had a median age of 11.5 years (range 5 months-22 years) with a male to female ratio of 1 : 1.

The most common tumor site was in the mandible (9 / 20, 45 %) followed by a neck mass (4 / 20, 20 %) and a clavicular mass (3 / 20 , 15 %).

Six patients (30 %) were metastatic at presentation.

Most of the patients (19 / 20, 95 %) received chemotherapy.

Local therapy was in the form of radical radiotherapy for patients (40 %), 2 patients (10 %), 8 had surgery alone while five patients (25 %) had surgical resection and postoperative radiotherapy.

Overall survival ranged from 1 to 128 months, with a median of 36 months.

At the end of the study, 9 patients (45 %) were alive in CR, 6 (30 %) were lost to FU in disease progression, while 5 patients died from disease progression Conclusion : Ewing’s sarcoma of the head and neck is a disease of a rare incidence with debate about the optimum local therapy.

Small non-metastatic tumors with good response to chemotherapy have abettor outcome.