In Egypt, retinoblastoma patients present more frequently with advanced disease. There is an ever-increasing need to develop a national team dedicated to studying disease significance and formulating a national awareness program.

Background. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in children. Fifty percent of RMS cases occur in the first 10 years of life and less commonly in infants younger than one-year old. These infants require adapted multimodality treatment approaches. Patients and Methods. We analyzed patients' characteristics, treatment modalities, and the outcome for RMS infants treated at Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt (CCHE) between July 2007 and December 2010 and compared them to patients above one year treated on the same protocol. Results. Out of the 126 RMS treated during this period, 18 were below the age of one year. The male: female ratio was 1.25 : 1. The median age at diagnosis was 0.7 ± 0.2 years. Most of the cases (27.8%) were presented in head and neck regions. The estimated 4-years failure-free survival and overall survival for infants were 49 ± 12% and 70 ± 12%, respectively. These failure-free survival rate and overall survival rate did not differ from those for older patients (P = 0.2). Conclusion. Infants with RMS are a unique group of RMS who needs special concerns in tailoring treatment in addition to concerns regarding toxicity and morbidity in infants.

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We conclude that retinoblastoma must be considered in the differential diagnosis of phthisis bulbi in the pediatric patients and active tumor was present in half of the patients.