Guide To The Major Symptoms Of Rhabdomyosarcoma

Blood In The Urine

Blood in the urine (hematuria) may appear in some rhabdomyosarcoma patients. Urine is produced by the kidneys, and travels from tubes called the ureters to the bladder. Once in the bladder, the urine is stored until the individual is ready to expel it. Because the bladder is made up of muscular tissues, rhabdomyosarcoma can develop in it. When rhabdomyosarcoma infiltrates the tissues of the bladder wall, the small blood vessels that supply the muscle tissues with blood can leak or burst from becoming damaged. This mechanism allows blood to leak into the interior of the organ where the urine is being stored.

Another way rhabdomyosarcoma can cause hematuria is when a patient's tumor grows large enough to stop the bladder from being able to empty properly. When the bladder does not empty urine completely, the stagnated urine is at a higher risk of hosting an infection. Irritation of the tissues that line the interior of the bladder caused by a bladder infection due to the mechanical abnormalities precipitated from the tumor can cause blood to leak into the urine.

Nose, Throat, And Ear Bleeding

An individual who experiences nose, throat, or ear bleeding may have developed rhabdomyosarcoma in the affected area. The skin that makes up the inner lining of the nasal cavity is very sensitive and contains numerous small blood vessels close to its surface. Major disruptions in the structure of this mucous membrane cause damage to these vessels and results in a nosebleed. The infiltration of cancerous cells from a patient's rhabdomyosarcoma can easily produce a nosebleed.

Bleeding from the throat can be a symptom that occurs as the result of bleeding in the nose that drains into the throat, or it can be the result of rhabdomyosarcoma invading into the muscular tissues of the patient's esophagus and causing damage to blood vessels. The ear canal is also lined with a high concentration of small blood vessels that can burst or leak when they become damaged. Cancerous cells from a rhabdomyosarcoma can invade the ear canal and produce bloody ear discharge.