ASKIN’S TUMOR: A CASE REPORT AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Askin tumour is an uncommon form of malignant neoplasm that develops from the soft tissues of the thoracopulmonary wall and has a neuroectodermal origin and possess aggressive behavior. As it mimics other common pediatric disorders such as empyema, tuberculosis, lymphoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and neuroblastoma, it acts as a great diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the treating clinicians. Its rarity, however, contributes greatly to the absence of standardized treatment protocols further facilitating detrimental prognosis. So, the major deciding factor of its survival rate is early and precise diagnosis followed by its treatment. The present study reports a case Askin’s tumor in a child which is locally aggressive and quite rare. While making the definitive diagnosis of an Askin’s tumour of the thorcopulmonary region the possibility of the occurrence of other primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) was not ruled out.