Review article: chromosomal diagnosis in rhabdomyosarcoma

Abstract

Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) are considered clinically aggressive tumors, originated from immature mesenchymal cells and characterized by the presence of cells with an ill-defined differentiation. The use of conventional cytogenetic techniques has contributed considerably to distinguish the alveolar RMSs from the other types of solid tumors in children and adolescents. Besides that, it provides important prognostic informations about alveolar RMSs. Thus, the present work was aimed at reviewing the cytogenetic alterations observed in the different histological subtypes of RMS, focusing not only on the studies performed with conventional cytogenetics, but also on new approaches used in the study of neoplasms, such as FISH, CGH, SKY and M-FISH. These methodologies have contributed significantly to a better understanding of the karyotype heterogeneity observed in RMS.