How to Treat the Ewing's Family of Sarcomas in Adult Patients

Ewing's sarcoma, peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and Askin's tumor comprise a single family of tumors, the Ewing's family of tumors, which is characterized by chromosomal translocation. Ewing's sarcoma is known as a malignancy of childhood, but with a median age of 15 years at diagnosis, it should equally be regarded as a malignancy of adolescence and young adulthood. There is much controversy regarding the role of age at diagnosis, with some studies showing older age to be associated with poorer outcome and others showing no association between age and survival. This has led to uncertainty in how best to manage nonpediatric patients with Ewing's sarcoma. This article examines whether age does affect outcome and treatment in this group of tumors.