
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions β written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Leiomyosarcoma natural history
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Leiomyosarcoma of uterus is an agressive soft tissue tumor which is diagnosed accidentally when they remove fibroid tumor and histology analysis reveal the aggressive nature of tumor. Most common sites that leiomyosarcoma invades are the lungs, liver, abdomen, pelvis, and lymph nodes, bone and brain metastases are less common sites of involvement. Depending on the extent of the tumor at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis may vary, in those that tumor spread beyond uterus and pelvic, prognosis is very poor. Prognosis depends mainly on the age of the patient, race, FIGO stage, mitotic index and hormonal receptor expression in the tumor.
Natural History
Natural History
- Most leiomyosarcoma are diagnosed incidentally during hysterectomy of suspected fibroid tumors.[1][2][3]
- A leiomyosarcoma, especially in the early stages, may not be associated with any obvious symptoms other than irregular vaginal bleeding or feeling pressure in abdomen or pelvic.
- The majority of patients with leiomyosarcoma remain asymptomatic for decades.
- General symptoms associated with cancer may occur including fatigue, fever, weight loss, malaise, and nausea and vomiting.
- The prognosis of patients with uterine sarcomas has not changed in recent decades because of rare nature of disease and late diagnosis.
- Patients with leiomyosarcoma have overall 5βyear survival rate of between 17.5% and 54.7% in various studies.
Complications
Complications
Leiomyosarcomas are aggressive tumors that potentially cause complications due to metastasis to other organs, some of the complications of uterine leiomyosarcoma are include the following:[4][5][6][6][7][8][9]
- Anxiety and stress because of uterine cancer
- Lockjaw and numbness in lips
- Dysphagia due to esophageal leiomyosarcoma metastasis
- Anemia due to metastasis to duodenum or cancer itself.
- Metastasis to lung and pulmonary symptoms due to that.
- Side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy such as sexual dysfunction.
Prognosis
Prognosis
The prognosis of leiomyosarcoma is poor and it depends upon different factors including site of tumor, size, and type, as well as the extent of tumor spread. Some patients with low grade tumors or with tumors that have not spread beyond stage I have better prognosis. In general, high-grade tumors that have spread widely throughout the body have less favorable survival rates. Some of these progostic factors that affect survival rates of patients with leiomyosarcoma include:[10]
References
References
- β Major FJ, Blessing JA, Silverberg SG, Morrow CP, Creasman WT, Currie JL, Yordan E, Brady MF (February 1993). “Prognostic factors in early-stage uterine sarcoma. A Gynecologic Oncology Group study”. Cancer. 71 (4 Suppl): 1702β9. PMIDΒ 8381710.
- β Gladdy, Rebecca A.; Qin, Li-Xuan; Moraco, Nicole; Agaram, Narasimhan P.; Brennan, Murray F.; Singer, Samuel (2013). “Predictors of Survival and Recurrence in Primary Leiomyosarcoma”. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 20 (6): 1851β1857. doi:10.1245/s10434-013-2876-y. ISSNΒ 1068-9265.
- β Koivisto-Korander, Riitta; Butzow, Ralf; Koivisto, Anna-Maija; Leminen, Arto (2008). “Clinical outcome and prognostic factors in 100 cases of uterine sarcoma: Experience in Helsinki University Central Hospital 1990β2001”. Gynecologic Oncology. 111 (1): 74β81. doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2008.06.002. ISSNΒ 0090-8258.
- β Keller, Nathan A.; Godoy, Heidi (2015). “Leiomyosarcoma of the Vagina: An Exceedingly Rare Diagnosis”. Case Reports in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2015: 1β4. doi:10.1155/2015/363895. ISSNΒ 2090-6684.
- β . doi:10.1111/j.1442-2050.2012.01444.x. Epub 2012 Nov 16 Check
|doi=value (help). Missing or empty|title=(help) - β 6.0 6.1 Billingsley KG, Burt ME, Jara E, Ginsberg RJ, Woodruff JM, Leung DH, Brennan MF (May 1999). “Pulmonary metastases from soft tissue sarcoma: analysis of patterns of diseases and postmetastasis survival”. Ann. Surg. 229 (5): 602β10, discussion 610β2. PMCΒ 1420804. PMIDΒ 10235518.
- β Falk, Sandy J.; Dizon, Don S. (2013). “Sexual dysfunction in women with cancer”. Fertility and Sterility. 100 (4): 916β921. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.08.018. ISSNΒ 0015-0282.
- β Hope, Isabel; Morton, Karen; Newlands, Carrie; Butler-Manuel, Simon; Madhuri, Thumuluru Kavitha (2017). “Lockjaw from a metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma- case report and review of the literature”. BMC Women’s Health. 17 (1). doi:10.1186/s12905-017-0472-1. ISSNΒ 1472-6874.
- β Fleet, M.; Mellon, A.F.; Lee, J.A.; Talbot, D.; Eastham, E.J.; Pearson, A.D.J. (1994). “Duodenal leiomyosarcoma presenting with iron deficiency anemia”. Journal of Pediatric Surgery. 29 (12): 1601β1603. doi:10.1016/0022-3468(94)90233-X. ISSNΒ 0022-3468.
- β Koivisto-Korander, Riitta; Butzow, Ralf; Koivisto, Anna-Maija; Leminen, Arto (2008). “Clinical outcome and prognostic factors in 100 cases of uterine sarcoma: Experience in Helsinki University Central Hospital 1990β2001”. Gynecologic Oncology. 111 (1): 74β81. doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2008.06.002. ISSNΒ 0090-8258.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Nima Nasiri, M.D.[2]
