A randomized, phase III clinical trial involving 371 patients with high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma shows that adding 6 months of maintenance chemotherapy (low intensity) after the initial intensive treatment is completed increases survival rate by 13%, from 73.7% to 86.5%. It is the first advance in 30 years in the treatment of this rare type of tumor.The RMS2005 study, in which 108 centers from 14 countries participated, has been developed by the European Paediatric Soft-tissue Sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG). One of the authors of the study, and its national coordinator, is Dr. Soledad Gallego Melcón, head of the Paediatric Oncology and Haematology Department of the Children's Hospital of Vall d'Hebron.Using a new form of existing drugs, has been established a new treatment protocol, that will help children and adolescents to live longer and have a lower risk of recurrence of rhabdomyosarcoma.Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare type of tumor that originates in muscle tissue and can occur in anywhere in the body, but it is most often found in the head, neck, pelvis, and abdomen. It represents 4% of all childhood cancers, which means 320 new cases per year in the European Union. After the initial intensive treatment between 70 and 80% of them are cured. But in the rest of cases, when there is metastasis or relapse, healing is only possible in 20-30% of cases. "But thanks to this study that raises a new standard of treatment, its chances of cure increase," explains Dr. Gallego.This study enrolled 371 patients (20% of them Spanish) between 6 months and 21 years old with a high risk of recurrence since the location of the tumor was in a complicated area to treat, such as, for example, the head. After completing the initial standard intensive treatment based on chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, the patients were divided into two groups. One of them followed the usual protocol, that is, stopped the treatment because the tumor had disappeared, and the other group received a low-intensity chemotherapy treatment for six months."Once the study was completed, it was observed that survival rate was significantly higher in patients who had received the 6-month maintenance chemotherapy treatment," explains Dr. Gallego. Specifically, survival was 86.5% compared to 73.3% of the group that received the usual treatment, 13% higher.As a result of this finding, the treatment protocol of rhabdomyosarcoma in Europe has been changed and it is being studied how it can be implanted in the USA, since they started from a standard treatment different from the European one.This study, which was presented recently in the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Plenary Session, was selected among more than 5.000 communications and considered one of the four studies that will immediately contribute to change clinical practice in this or in other types of cancer.