Health Update: Health Update: What is alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma? ‘Blue Bloods’ actor death explained – What Experts Say– What Experts Say.
Blue Bloods actor Alex Duong dies at 42
Comedian Alex Duong has died at 42 after a rare, aggressive cancer following months of treatment.
“Blue Bloods” actor and comedian Alex Duong recently died at 42 after a year-long battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is soft tissue cancer that develops in your skeletal muscles, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, one type of this cancer, is particularly aggressive, meaning it spreads quickly, the clinic notes.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is more common in children but can occur in adults, according to the American Cancer Society, and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma typically affects all age groups equally.
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma has “high local recurrence and metastasis tendency” in adults and “has the worst prognosis” of rhabdomyosarcoma diagnoses, according to a 2019 report in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research.
Rhabdomyosarcoma symptoms
Symptoms depend on the tumor’s location.
“For example, a tumor in your child’s ear may cause earache or discharge from their ear. A tumor behind your eye may make it swell or bulge out of the socket,” Cleveland Clinic explains.
Duong was diagnosed after he developed a headache at the beginning of 2025 and one day others noticed his left eye was bulging, he told the Los Angeles Times last year. He lost vision in his affected eye and within months owed $400,000 in medical costs.
According to the American Cancer Society, other symptoms can include:
- A lump in the neck, arms or legs
- Changes in vision
- Vaginal bleeding or blood in urine if the tumor is near the bladder or reproductive organs
- Belly pain or swelling
- Sinus congestion or headaches
What causes rhabdomyosarcoma?
The cause of rhabdomyosarcoma has not yet been determined due to its lack of prevalence, with “only several hundred new cases per year in the United States,” per the National Library of Medicine.
Cleveland Clinic notes certain genetic mutations may cause a type of rhabdomyosarcoma and people with certain inherited disorders have an increased risk of developing it.
But, while scientists have found some risk factors, the American Cancer Society says most people with the cancer don’t have any.
Rhabdomyosarcoma treatment
Rhabdomyosarcoma is “almost always treated with both local treatment (surgery and/or radiation therapy) and chemotherapy,” according to the American Cancer Society.
Duong’s cancer, which required extensive radiation and chemotherapy, eventually metastasized to his spine, and he was “bedridden” as of February.
“Sometimes, treatment can cure rhabdomyosarcoma,” the Cleveland Clinic adds. “In general, adults are less likely to be cured than children.”
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY