Sarcomas More Common in Children

Several types of sarcomas are more common in children, the most common of which include osteogenic sarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. While osteogenic sarcoma presents similarly in children and adults under age 40, there are a variety of differences in the presentation of Ewing sarcoma in adults versus pediatric patients. Ewing sarcoma is predominantly a bone tumor in children, while in adults it occurs much more commonly in soft tissue. As is also noted below, there is a new class of sarcomas that are similar in appearance to Ewing sarcoma but contain translocation products other than the classical t(11;22) EWSR1-FLI1 translocation. Pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma is much more common in adults than in children, while alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is rare in adults.