Each year about 150 children and adolescents in the United States are diagnosed with Ewing's tumor. About 58 percent of people with the disease live more than five years after diagnosis.
This form of cancer occurs most often in teenagers. The Ewing's family of tumors (EFT) include Ewing's tumor of the bones; extraosseus Ewing's (EOE), tumors that grow outside the bone, in soft tissues; primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), a rare cancer found in the bones and soft tissues stemming from the same primitive cells as EOE; and Askin's tumor, which is PNET of the chest wall.
Ewing's tumors usually occur in the pelvis, the thighbone, the upper arm bone and the ribs. Ewing's tumors of the bones account for 87 percent of the growths in patients. EOE accounts for 8 percent, and PNET accounts for 5 percent.
Changes in a tumor cell's chromosomes appear to be responsible for EFT, but the disease is not inherited. The genetic changes occur for no known reason. In children with EFT, a piece of chromosome 11 breaks off and attaches to chromosome 22, and vice versa. The fusion of these bits of genetic material results in the uncontrolled growth of EFT cells.
Copyright © 2000 Oncology.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
