Treatment patterns and outcomes of pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma in a resource-limited setting: A retrospective study from a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia

In 94 Ethiopian children with rhabdomyosarcoma, median overall survival was 23.0 months and event-free survival 15.0 months, with 14.9% presenting as high-risk.

• Why it matters: Survival for pediatric RMS is strong in high-income settings, but treatment delivery and outcomes are poorly characterized in resource-limited care systems like Ethiopia.
• What they did: From January 2021 to September 2025 at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, records of newly diagnosed patients were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier survival; Cox regression tested associations.
• The result: Multimodality treatment was given to 59.6%, curative intent was planned for 83% but received by 71.8%, and treatment modality (p < 0.001) plus total chemotherapy cycles (p = 0.001) were independently linked to overall survival.

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