Blue Bloods actor Alex Duong dies at age 42
Comedian Alex Duong has died at the age of 42 from a rare, aggressive form of cancer after months of treatment.
Blue Bloods actor and comedian Alex Duong recently passed away at the age of 42 after a year-long battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, rhabdomyosarcoma is a soft tissue cancer that begins in skeletal muscle. One type of cancer, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, is particularly aggressive and spreads quickly, the clinic notes.
According to the American Cancer Society, rhabdomyosarcoma is more common in children but can also occur in adults, and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma typically affects all age groups alike.
According to a 2019 report in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma has a “high propensity for local recurrence and metastasis” in adults and has “the poorest prognosis” of rhabdomyosarcoma diagnoses.
Rhabdomyosarcoma symptoms
Symptoms vary depending on the location of the tumor.
“For example, a tumor in a child’s ear may cause ear pain and discharge. A tumor behind the eye may cause it to swell and protrude from the eye socket,” says the Cleveland Clinic.
Duong told the Los Angeles Times last year that he developed headaches in early 2025 and was diagnosed one day when others noticed that his left eye was protruding. He lost vision in the affected eye and had to pay $400,000 in medical bills within a few months.
According to the American Cancer Society, other symptoms you may experience include:
- Lumps on the neck, arms, and legs
- changes in vision
- Vaginal bleeding or blood in the urine if the tumor is near the bladder or genitals
- abdominal pain and swelling
- sinus congestion or headache
What causes rhabdomyosarcoma?
The cause of rhabdomyosarcoma is still unknown, and its prevalence is low, with “only a few hundred new cases per year in the United States,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
The Cleveland Clinic notes that certain genetic mutations can cause a type of rhabdomyosarcoma, and people with certain genetic conditions are at higher risk of developing rhabdomyosarcoma.
However, although scientists have discovered some risk factors, the American Cancer Society says that most cancer patients have no risk factors.
Rhabdomyosarcoma treatment
According to the American Cancer Society, rhabdomyosarcoma is “most often treated with both local therapy (surgery and/or radiation therapy) and chemotherapy.”
Duong’s cancer required extensive radiation and chemotherapy, and eventually spread to her spine, leaving her “bedridden” in February.
“Treatment may cure rhabdomyosarcoma,” the Cleveland Clinic added. “Adults are generally less likely to be cured than children.”
Contributor: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
