This PDQ cancer information summary for health professionals provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information about the treatment of the Ewing family of tumors (EFT). This summary is reviewed regularly and updated as necessary by the PDQ Pediatric Treatment Editorial Board ¹.

In this summary, the EFT includes bone primaries (classic Ewing sarcoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and Askin tumor [chest wall]), which will be referred to as Ewing tumor of bone (ETB) and extraosseous primaries, which will be referred to as extraosseous Ewing sarcoma (EOE). General information about EFT will be presented in the General Information About Ewing Family of Tumors ² section of this summary. Information derived primarily from studies in which the vast majority of patients have bone primaries is presented in the ETB sections, and a separate section about EOE is also presented.

Information about the following is also included in this summary:

• Cellular classification.
• Stage information.
• Treatment options.

This summary is intended as a resource to inform and assist clinicians and other health professionals who care for pediatric cancer patients. It does not provide formal guidelines or recommendations for making health care decisions.

Some of the reference citations in this summary are accompanied by a level-of-evidence designation. These designations are intended to help readers assess the strength of the evidence supporting the use of specific interventions or approaches. The PDQ Pediatric and Adult Treatment Editorial Boards use a formal evidence ranking system ³ in developing their level-of-evidence designations. Based on the strength of the available evidence, treatment options are described as either “standard” or “under clinical evaluation.” These classifications should not be used as a basis for reimbursement determinations.

This summary is also available in a patient version ⁴, which is written in less-technical language, and in Spanish ⁵.