Re: Alec Baldwin & the Tooth Fairy

[Laurie Taylor <laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu>]

Radsafers, I didn't know what rhabdomyosarcoma was so I did some searching.  FYI - this is some information from St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Definition
Rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive, soft tissue tumor that arises from     muscle cells. 

Incidence
Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue tumor in children. The disease can occur throughout childhood and has been reported at birth. It is the fifth most common form of pediatric cancer, accounting for 5 to 8 percent of childhood cancer cases.

Influencing factors
Rhabdomyosarcoma occurs slightly more frequently in males than females. Whites are affected three times more often than blacks. Rhabdomyosarcoma usually affects children  between ages 2 and 6 years old.

Treatment strategies
Surgery is usually the primary treatment, followed by intensive chemotherapy and radiation. If the tumor is so large that surgery presents a major risk to the patient or would result in serious disfigurement or physical impairment, chemotherapy and/or radiation are used to reduce the tumor's size until it can be removed more safely.

Survival rates
More than 65 percent of children with rhabdomyosarcoma now enjoy long-term survival.  Survival rates depend significantly on initial tumor size, location and whether it has spread to other parts of the body.


Current research
Efforts continue to identify more effective drug combinations, as well as ways to reduce the amount of radiation required for children. 

copyright©  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
332 N. Lauderdale St.
Memphis, TN 38105
USA
www.stjude.org


At 07:05 PM 3/9/99 -0600, you wrote:
>I thought this would be of interest to those of you on Radsafe who follow
>radiation risk perception issues.  Alec Baldwin has once again entered the
>world of dubious scientific studies. The text below is arriving in  mail
>boxes across Long Island.
>-------------------------------
>
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