A number of types of treatments may be used to treat children with Ewing Sarcoma, including surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. In surgery, a doctor may remove the cancer and a portion of the surrounding healthy tissue. This alone, or in combination with radiation therapy, offers an effective treatment for the primary tumor. However, it is not effective for treating Ewing sarcoma cells that might have spread to other areas of the body. If this is the case, or if a tumor needs to be shrunk before surgery, chemotherapy may be used. Chemotherapy is also used after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.

Research Studies

The majority of children with cancer participate in research studies. This high rate of participation has been essential to improving the cure rates for children’s cancer.

Researchers design various studies to improve treatment and advance the understanding of cancer and its causes. Clinical trials are carefully reviewed and must be approved through a formal scientific process before anyone can be enrolled. If there is a research study “open” that your child is “eligible for,” you may be asked to allow your child to participate. It is also possible that your child will be asked to participate in more than one study.

Whether an individual is eligible for a particular study may depend on age, location of the cancer, the extent of the disease and other information. Researchers usually must limit their study to some of these characteristics to have a scientifically valid study. Further, researchers must follow exactly the same restrictions throughout the study.

If your child is eligible to participate in one or more study, your doctor will discuss these with you during an initial treatment conference (also called informed consent conference). The doctor will describe the study, potential risks of participation, and other information you need to decide whether or not you would like your child to participate in the study. You always have the choice to participate or not in research studies.

If you do choose to have your child participate in a study, you doctor will explain what type of information you will receive about the results of the study. The overall results of the research study will be published to inform the public and other researchers. No study will publish any information that identifies an individual.

Last updated July, 2011

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