Objective  To explore the effectiveness and feasibility of multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) based on the CQ-RMS-2009 protocol and analyze the association of prognostic factors with the long-term survival of children with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).

  Methods  Medical records of patients with RMS under 14 years of age at Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, from May 2006 to April 2016 were analyzed. The association of different factors with the long-term survival of children with RMS was compared.

  Results  In total, 71 cases of RMS in children were included. The male to female ratio was 1.84:1, median age at diagnosis was 47 (2-166) months, and median follow-up time was 52 (15-165) months. The 5-year overall survival (5y-OS) and 5-year event free survival (5y-EFS) was 61.9%±5.1% and 56.1%±4.2%. From May 2006 to December 2009 and from January 2009 to April 2016, the 5yOS was 48.1%±12.1% and 73.3%±7.9%, respectively (P=0.042), and the 5y-EFS was 35.9%±11.7% and 69.8%±8.7%, respectively (P=0.064). The univariate analysis showed that the pathological subtypes, postoperative clinical group (P=0.025), treatment patterns, and risk groups were significantly associated with overall survival (OS)(P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that the postoperative clinical group and treatment patterns were independent prognostic factors (P<0.05).

  Conclusions  On diagnosis, most of the children with RMS are already in the middle and late stages with low OS. MDT could effectively improve the prognosis and reduce the rate of relapse/progression in children with RMS, and it has remarkable efficacy for local control of disease relapse/progression.