Risk factors

Factors that may increase the risk of rhabdomyosarcoma include:

• Family history of cancer. The risk of rhabdomyosarcoma is higher in children with a blood relative, such as a parent or sibling, who has had cancer, particularly if that cancer occurred at a young age. But most children with rhabdomyosarcoma have no family history of cancer.
• Genetic syndromes that increase the risk of cancer. In rare instances, rhabdomyosarcoma has been linked to genetic syndromes that are passed from parents to children, including neurofibromatosis 1, Noonan syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and Costello syndrome.