%0 Journal Article %T Rhabdomyosarcoma - an Epidemiological and Histopathologic Study of 277 Cases from a Major Tertiary Care Center in Karachi, Pakistan %J Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention %I West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention (WAOCP), APOCP's West Asia Chapter. %Z 1513-7368 %D 2015 %\ 02/01/2015 %V 16 %N 2 %P 757-760 %! Rhabdomyosarcoma - an Epidemiological and Histopathologic Study of 277 Cases from a Major Tertiary Care Center in Karachi, Pakistan %K Rhabdomyosarcoma %K embryonal type %K alveolar type %K pleomorphic type %K Epidemiology %R %X Aim: To present the epidemiologic data (age, gender, size etc) and histopathologic and immunohistochemicalfeatures of cases of rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) reported in our department. Settings: Section of Histopathology,Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Duration: Allcases of RMS diagnosed between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2012 were included in the study. Results:A total of 277 cases were included. Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) was by far the dominant histologictype (87.4%) followed by alveolar type (ARMS)(9.4%). ERMS was much more common in males (64.0%)andover 65% of cases occurred in the first decade of life (over 90% in the first two decades). Head and neck regionwas commonest site for ERMS (46.7%), followed by the genitourinary system (16.1%). Over 65% cases of ARMSoccurred in the extremities. Over 80% cases of ARMS occurred in the first 3 decades of life. Immunohistochemicalstaining for Desmin and MyoD1 was positive in 96.7% and 85.4% respectively. Conclusions: The epidemiologicdata and microscopic findings in our patients are similar to international published data on rhabdomyosarcoma. %U https://journal.waocp.org/article_30501_6fd1bfa684b74c563a08d166f0de592b.pdf