Leiomyosarcoma of Somatic Soft Tissues

Leiomyosarcoma is a rare, aggressively malignant connective tissue tumor of mature adults, which arises from smooth muscle. It occurs most frequently in the uterus, bowel, vascular tissues, and less commonly in somatic soft tissue or bone. The tumor when it arises in soft tissue has distinctive histologic features which somewhat resemble malignant fibrous histiocytoma (otherwise known as myxofibrosarcoma). The Orthopaedic Oncology Service at our institution has treated 66 patients with these lesions and thus far, 1/2 of the patients have died of disease at a mean of 3 years after discovery. Factors that increase the death rate include size of the tumor, Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Stage of disease, and to a lesser extent particularly in the lower extremities, anatomic site. Radiation and chemotherapy had little direct effect on the outcome but patients treated with surgery and adjunctive agents seemed to live longer than their cohorts treated with surgery alone. The purpose of this study is a general review of the clinical and prognostic features of this cancer.