Trisomy 8 as a sole aberration in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (sarcoma botryoides) of the vagina.

Sarcoma botryoides (SB) is a subtype of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS), which belongs to the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in infancy and childhood, the rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). Most of the vaginal RMS belong to SB, which is five times more common than the cervical ERMS. To date, there is no doubt regarding the significance and importance of chromosomal aberrations in cancer. So far, to our knowledge, no specific chromosomal changes have been reported for ERMS in general and for SB in particular. We describe cytogenetic results of a case of vaginal SB affecting a 1-year-old girl. A clone of trisomy 8 was found in all the analyzed cells as the only chromosomal aberration. The significance of this finding is discussed.