Rhabdomyosarcoma is an uncommon type of cancer that develops in the skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscles are attached to bones. They aid in the movement of the body. The majority of rhabdomyosarcomas occur in children and adolescents.
Rhabdomyosarcoma can develop itself in any location on the body. It most frequently manifests itself in the legs, bladder, head & neck, arms reproductive organs, chest, and abdomen. Rhabdomyosarcoma has a high proclivity for metastasizing to other organs.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is classified into two kinds.
Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is most frequently found in children younger than the age of six.
Typically, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma occurs in older children or adolescents. It is more aggressive in nature than embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.
The least frequent kind is anaplastic rhabdomyosarcoma. Adults are more prone to develop it than children.
Symptoms
The symptoms of rhabdomyosarcoma are quite variable and are mostly determined by the size and location of the disease. These tumors may not manifest symptoms until they reach a certain size.
Symptoms include the following:
Continual lump or swelling in the body, which may be painful
Bulging or drooping eyelids
Migraine and headache
Having difficulty urinating or passing stools
Urine containing blood
Symptoms of earache or sinus infection
Nasal, throat, vaginal, or rectum bleeding
Constipation, nausea, and stomach pain
These symptoms do not always indicate malignancy. However, it is critical to consult your physician if you or your kid encounter any of these symptoms.
Diagnosis
Your doctor will do a physical examination and review your medical history to check for indicators of disease. He or she will elicit information about your health habits, as well as previous diseases and treatments.
Your doctor may also advise you to get one or more of the following tests: Additionally, a combination of the following tests and treatments will be required for diagnosis:
X-ray. Makes images of tissues, bones, and organs using energy beams.
CT scan. Utilizes a revolving x-ray camera to get comprehensive cross-sectional images of the tumor and to determine if it has spread to other organs (for example, the lungs or abdomen).
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Utilizes a powerful magnet and radio waves to create detailed images of the inside of the body.
PET scan: Doctors occasionally use this test to determine whether and where cancer has spread.
Bone scan: To determine whether cancer cells have moved to the bone, a scanner and low-level radioactive material are used.
Biopsy. Cells or tissues are extracted for evaluation during surgery. Biopsies can be conducted with or without a needle. Pathologists, who are specially trained physicians, can then examine the tissue under a microscope.
Aspiration and biopsy of bone marrow. Bone and bone marrow fluid is extracted from the lower back and pelvis in order to determine if the malignancy has spread.
Staging
Staging determines the amount of cancer present, as well as its location and extent of spread. Three factors determine the stage of rhabdomyosarcoma:
Rhabdomyosarcoma type
Alveolar or embryonic
Clinical group
Rhabdomyosarcoma is classified according to its clinical characteristics (I-IV). The classification is based on the severity of the disease and the amount of tumor excised initially during surgery.
TNM rating
The TNM rating is based on the following:
T (tumor size)
N (whether cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes)
M. (whether cancer has spread to distant organs)
The patient is then classified as low, intermediate, or high risk, depending on the chance that cancer has metastasized (spread) or will do so in the future.
Expected Timeframe
Rhabdomyosarcoma will continue to grow indefinitely unless and until it is treated. If left untreated, it has the potential to spread to other parts of the body.
Prevention
Certain hereditary conditions make rhabdomyosarcoma more likely to occur. These include a variety of genetic disorders that increase a person's risk of developing this type of cancer, as well as the following cancers:
Syndrome Li-Fraumeni
Type 1 neurofibromatosis
Syndrome Beckwith-Wiedemann
Costello syndrome
The Noonan syndrome
There are no recognized risk factors for this condition that may be prevented. Genetic testing may assist in identifying further family members who may be at risk of developing this type of sarcoma or other types of cancer.
Sunscreen manufacturers withdraw products found to contain a cancer-causing substance
Current-events briefings
The sunscreen aisle has been affected by recalls of drugs containing carcinogens (substances that cause cancer). Johnson & Johnson recalled five aerosol sunscreen products and CVS discontinued two sunscreen products in July 2021 due to the presence of the carcinogen benzene. The FDA initiated the investigation when an online pharmacy identified benzene levels in dozens of sunscreen products and contacted the agency. Additionally, the same pharmacy (Valisure LLC) was responsible for testing that resulted in the recall of heartburn and diabetic medications in 2019 and 2020 due to the presence of the carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine. Johnson & Johnson officials claim that benzene is not a sunscreen ingredient and confirm that subsequent testing discovered benzene in select products at levels expected to pose no health hazards.
News briefs
A study published online on Aug. 30, 2021, in JAMA Neurology reveals that getting too much or too little sleep can harm your brain and cause memory and thinking problems. More than 4,400 older men and women from around the world had their brain imaging, cognitive test scores, and self-reported sleep habits evaluated by researchers. Short sleep was linked to decreased cognition, particularly in memory, as well as an increase in amyloid-beta, a protein that can form brain plaque and is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The long sleep of nine hours or more has also been associated with cognitive issues, particularly in decision-making. In comparison to persons who had seven or eight hours of sleep, both short and lengthy sleep were linked to a higher BMI (a measurement of body fat), more depressive symptoms, and more napping. Although the study was observational and cannot prove causation, the findings are consistent with numerous other studies that show that too little — or maybe too much — sleep affects cognitive impairments.
Exposure to traffic noise is associated with an increased risk of dementia.
Could living near a busy road or train tracks increase your risk of developing dementia? According to a study published in The BMJ on Sept. 11, 2021, people who lived near noisy transportation routes for an extended period of time appeared to have an increased risk of dementia, specifically Alzheimer's disease, compared to those who lived in quieter areas.
When it comes to shoe shopping, some people can complete the transaction in five minutes and be completely satisfied. For others, it will take several days of reading reviews, comparing prices, deliberating, and deliberating some more before making a decision.
Alternatively, not.
People may desire to make a choice, but fear of making the wrong one or missing out on a better deal gets in the way. The impending holiday gift-giving season adds to the pressure.
"Deciding is a difficult task," says Dr. Soo Jeong Youn, a clinical psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
We're constantly making choices about what to wear and what to eat. It can also feel agonizing, if not paralyzing because we do not always have all the information, and the brain fills in the gaps with worst-case scenarios, which does nothing to alleviate the stress.
Can we improve our decision-making abilities? Yes, in a nutshell. It requires organization, but also a shift in mindset in which we acknowledge that there is no perfect choice. But first, it's worthwhile to consider why decision-making can be so difficult.
Being aware of what to anticipate
Not all choices result in the same level of stress. Significant ones, such as changing jobs or purchasing a home, are taken into account, as we would expect. Daily choices, such as our morning coffee order or grocery shopping, are frequently automatic. And, in most cases, the prefrontal cortex is in command. That is the area of the brain behind the brow that is responsible for executive functioning skills — a term coined by Youn to describe the complexity of thought. The prefrontal cortex integrates information from throughout the brain in order to make a choice.
It's the midlevel decisions that become problematic — the new bike, winter jacket, toaster, or shoes. Although these are not large purchases, because they are not made on a regular basis, we can spend more time weighing cost versus benefit.
The limbic system takes over from the prefrontal cortex. It is the brain's fight-or-flight response, and there is no careful weighing of factors. The objective is straightforward: survival, and it can lead us to make a less-than-optimal choice simply to end the decision-making process — or to avoid the situation entirely by doing nothing, she explains.
That is not always our intention. We want to make the best choice possible, but there is frequently something else at play, namely expectations. It has to do with how we are perceived and how much we are worth. If it's a present, we're concerned about whether it adequately expresses our emotions. As Youn puts it, "that choice is not solely about that choice."
And beneath it, all is the fear and regret that you chose the incorrect path.
However, Youn poses the following question: Wrong for what?
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