Solid alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas with the t(2;13). Report of two cases with diagnostic implications.

Abstract

Two patients having rhabdomyosarcomas with the recently described "solid variant" pattern of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma are reported. Both tumors had aggressive cytologic features with monotonous sheets of round nuclei, but without fibrous septa, and both had been initially classified as embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas. Cytogenetic analyses of tumor explants from both cases revealed the t(2;13) chromosomal aberration typical of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Both patients died of metastases, despite aggressive surgical and adjuvant therapy. This report represents the first karyotypic analyses of solid alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas and supports the inclusion of these tumors in the alveolar category despite the lack of fibrous septa.