What is Ewing Sarcoma Cancer?

What is Ewing's Sarcoma?

Ewing's Sarcoma is a very rare form of bone cancer that strikes children and adolescents. Actually, it is a group of four different types of cancer, known collectively as the Ewing's Family of Tumors (EFT). About 250 cases are diagnosed every year in the U.S. The good news is that two-thirds of patients are long-term survivors of the disease. Although it can occur at a younger age, most Ewing's sarcoma cases are found in children aged 10 to 20. White children, particularly boys, are much more likely to have EFT than any other racial or ethnic group.


Ewing's sarcomas are caused by chromosome changes that occur after birth. In a process known as translocation, chromosomes 11 and 22 "swap" small pieces of each other, resulting in an abnormal gene that can be detected with DNA testing. However, it's not known why this translocation takes place. There are no identifiable risk factors that increase a child's susceptibility to Ewing's sarcomas, and it's not passed along from parent to child like some inherited childhood cancers. In fact, it's extremely rare for it to happen more than once in the same family.