Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Very Low-Risk and Low Risk Fusion Negative Rhabdomyosarcoma

This study is for children and young adults up to 21 years old who have been newly diagnosed with certain types of rhabdomyosarcoma. These include embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, spindle cell/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma, or a specific type of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (called FOXO1 fusion negative). Before joining this study, all patients must first enroll in another related study (called APEC14B1).

Your cancer will be carefully checked to see if it's considered 'very low-risk' or 'low-risk'. This helps decide which treatment plan you'll follow. For example, if you have very low-risk cancer that is Stage 1 and Clinical Group I, you might be in one group. If your cancer is low-risk, such as Stage 1 and Clinical Group II, or in some cases involving the eye, you might be in another group. Sometimes, a small sample of lymph nodes (small glands that are part of your immune system) may need to be taken, especially for certain tumour locations, to help understand the cancer better.

If you join this study, your journey will involve receiving chemotherapy. The type and length of chemotherapy will depend on the specific characteristics of your rhabdomyosarcoma. For some, this might be 24 weeks of vincristine and dactinomycin. Other patients might receive 12 weeks of vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide, followed by another 12 weeks of vincristine and dactinomycin. If your cancer has certain genetic changes, your treatment might be adjusted to be more intense. Throughout the study, you'll have various tests like biopsies, bone scans, CT scans, and MRI scans to monitor your condition and treatment response. You'll have regular hospital visits to receive medication and have check-ups. The total duration of active treatment will be 24 weeks for most, but follow-up appointments would continue after that.