Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors

Treatment

Doctors may treat desmoplastic small round cell tumors (DSRCTs) with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of these treatments. In addition, some people with DSRCTs are candidates for a stem cell transplant.

• Surgery. Surgeons will remove the tumor if possible.
• Chemotherapy. Doctors may give a combination of cancer-fighting drugs before surgery to shrink the tumor or after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells, or at both times.
• Radiation. Like chemotherapy, radiation may be used before or after surgery, or when the tumor cannot be safely removed. Depending on the tumor's size, shape and location, specialists may treat it using 3-D conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) .

• Stem cell transplant. People with DSRCTs requiring a stem cell transplant (also called bone marrow transplant or blood and marrow stem cell transplant) receive stem cells from their own bodies (autologous stem cell transplant). High-dose chemotherapy is given before the stem cell infusion.

Read more about stem cell transplant.