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:: Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) Defined ::

Leiomyosarcoma (Gr. Leio- =smooth, myo- = muscle, sarcoma = fleshy growth) is a type of sarcoma which is a neoplasm of smooth muscle. (When a uterine neoplasm is benign, it is a leiomyoma.) Smooth muscle cells make up the involuntary muscles, which are found in most parts of the body: in uterus, stomach and intestines, walls of all blood vessels, and skin. It is therefore possible for leiomyosarcomas to appear at any site in the body. It is however most commonly found in the stomach, small intestine and retroperitoneum.

Leiomyosarcoma is a very rare cancer. It makes up 5-10% of soft tissue sarcomas, which are in themselves rare cancers.

:: About Leiomyosarcoma ::

Leiomyosarcoma is a form of cancer that affects the smooth muscle of the body. It spreads through the blood stream and can affect the lungs, liver, blood vessels, or any other soft tissue in the body.

LMS is a type of sarcoma which is a neoplasm of smooth muscle. Smooth muscle cells make up the involuntary muscles, which are found in most parts of the body: in the uterus, stomach and intestines, walls of all blood vessels, and skin.

Leiomyosarcoma is a very rare cancer. It makes up 7% of soft tissue sarcomas; in all, LMS affects 4 out of 1,000,000 people.

Presently there is no cure. Remission can be attained, but this rare cancer can reappear at any time. Because of its rarity, few doctors know how to treat it and it attracts very little research.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Leiomyosarcoma of the maxillary sinuses: report of two cases.

Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant smooth-muscle tumor that has a predilection for the gastrointestinal tract and the female genital tract. It is locally fast-spreading and highly aggressive, and the prognosis is poor. We report two cases of leiomyosarcoma of the maxilla maxilla /max·il·la/ (mak-sil´ah) pl. maxil´las, maxil´lae [L.] the irregularly shaped bone that with its fellow forms the upper jaw. max´illary

max·il·la
n. pl.
in patients who sought treatment for maxillary swelling, nasal obstruction, and epistaxis; one patient also had orbital involvement and cervical lymph node metastasis. Both patients underwent radical surgery followed by chemo- and/or radiotherapy. The patient with orbital involvement died shortly thereafter, but the other was disease-free at 18 months.

Case reports
Patient 1. A 27-year-old woman sought treatment for a 6-month history of painful swelling over the right maxillary area that was accompanied by nasal obstruction, epistaxis, proptosis proptosis /prop·to·sis/ (prop-to´sis) forward displacement or bulging, especially of the eye.

prop·to·sis
n. pl.
, and loose teeth.
Clinical examination revealed that the diffuse swelling measured 5 x 4 cm and involved the orbit (figure 1). The tumor extended inferiorly to the angle of the mouth, laterally to the front of the tragus, and medially to the dorsum of the nose. It obliterated the nasolabial fold and involved the skin at the root of the nose. The skin over the swelling appeared to be stretched. Movement of the right eyeball was restricted. Intraorally, the swelling destroyed the hard palate and alveolus. On anterior rhinoscopy, the mass could be seen filling the entire nasal cavity. Findings on postnasal postnasal /post·na·sal/ (-na´z'l) posterior to the nose.
post·na·sal
adj.
1. Located or occurring posterior to the nose or the nasal cavity.
2.
examination were normal. Examination of the neck revealed that multiple cervical lymph nodes Cervical lymph nodes are lymph nodes found in the neck. Anterior cervical nodes
The anterior cervical nodes are a group of nodes found on the anterior part of the neck.
at levels I and II were hard, nontender, and mobile.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
We arrived at a clinical diagnosis of a malignancy of the right maxilla with orbital infiltration and metastasis to the cervical lymph nodes. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a large soft-tissue density in the right maxillary sinus that had destroyed all of the maxillary walls except the posterior wall and that had involved the orbit (figure 2). There was no intracranial extension.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
Analysis of the biopsy specimen revealed that the tumor tissue was made up of fascicles of spindle-shaped cells with eosinophilic eosinophilic /eo·sin·o·phil·ic/ (-fil´ik)
1. readily stainable with eosin.

2. pertaining to eosinophils.

3. pertaining to or characterized by eosinophilia.
cytoplasm and oval to elongated and blunt-ended vesicular nuclei (figure 3). Mitosis was conspicuous. Areas of necrosis, fibrosis, hyalinization, and inflammatory infiltrates were seen. The reticulin reticulin /re·tic·u·lin/ (re-tik´u-lin) a scleroprotein from the connective fibers of reticular tissue.
re·tic·u·lin
n.
stain showed abundant reticulin fibers around individual tumor cells. The van Gieson's and Masson's trichrome stains showed smooth-muscle differentiation in the spindle cells. These features were those of a leiomyosarcoma.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
The patient underwent radical maxillectomy with orbital exenteration exenteration /ex·en·ter·a·tion/ (ek-sen?ter-a´shun)
1. surgical removal of the inner organs; evisceration.

2. in ophthalmology, removal of the entire contents of the orbit.
and radical neck dissection Radical Neck Dissection Definition

Radical neck dissection is an operation used to remove cancerous tissue in the head and neck.
Purpose
. A temporary obturator obturator /ob·tu·ra·tor/ (ob´tu-rat?er) a disk or plate, natural or artificial, that closes an opening.
ob·tu·ra·tor
n.
1.
was inserted. The patient underwent chemo- and radiotherapy for 3 days, but died of aspiration pneumonia.

Patient 2. A 42-year-old woman reported a 2-month history of swelling over the left maxillary region, nasal obstruction, epistaxis, and loose teeth and a 1-month history of swelling in the left upper jaw. The jaw swelling arose after she had had three teeth extracted by a dentist.

Clinical examination revealed that the diffuse swelling over the left maxillary area measured 3 x 2 cm. The swelling extended superiorly to the infraorbital region, inferiorly to the angle of the mouth, laterally to the malar bone malar bone
n.
See zygomatic bone.
, and medially to the ala of the left nostril, where it obliterated the left nasolabial fold. The skin over the swelling was normal. The same swelling was seen intraorally, and it had destroyed the hard palate and extended to the alveolus, where it had obliterated the gingivobuccal sulcus sulcus /sul·cus/ (sul´kus) pl. sul´ci [L.] a groove, trench, or furrow; in anatomy, a general term for such a depression, especially one on the brain surface, separating the gyri. . The surface of the mass in the oral cavity was smooth, and the mucous membrane was intact. Anterior rhinoscopy revealed that a smooth mass in the nasal cavity had filled the left nostril. Findings on postnasal examination were normal. The orbit and the movement of the left eyeball were also normal. There were no palpable lymph nodes.

We arrived at a clinical diagnosis of a malignancy of the left maxilla without orbital infiltration. CT showed a large soft-tissue density in the maxillary sinus that had destroyed the anterior floor and the medial wall of the left maxillary sinus (figure 4). Biopsy analysis identified the lesion as a leiomyosarcoma. The patient underwent a total maxillectomy followed by radiotherapy, and she received a permanent prosthesis. At the 18-month follow-up, she was symptom-free (figure 5).

[FIGURES 4-5 OMITTED]
Discussion

The first case of maxillary leiomyosarcoma was reported in 1958. (1) Since then, only about 65 cases have been reported throughout the world. (2)

Incidence. Leiomyosarcomas account for 6.5% of all soft-tissue sarcomas, and only 3% of them arise in the head and neck. (3) When they occur in the sinonasal tract, the most common sites are the nasal cavity, the maxillary sinus, and the ethmoid sinus, in that order.

Clinical features. Leiomyosarcomas of the sinonasal tract are more common in men than in women. (4) The average age at diagnosis is 50 years. (5) Initial symptoms in order of decreasing frequency include nasal obstruction, epistaxis, facial pain, and facial swelling. Sinonasal tract leiomyosarcoma is characterized as locally aggressive rather than as having high metastatic potential. (1) Any degree of orbital invasion, which occurred in our patient 1, is disastrous. Leiomyosarcoma with regional lymph node involvement is rare, but cervical node metastasis has been reported in 15% of leiomyosarcomas that arise in the oral cavity. (6)

Histopathology. On histologic examination, the tumor is made up of interlacing fascicles of spindle-shaped cells that have elongated, blunt-ended nuclei and eosinophilic cytoplasm. Numerous mitotic figures are present. The cytoplasm of the tumor cells stains red in Masson's trichrome medium. (7)

Radiology. On CT, leiomyosarcomas appear as bulky masses, and they are frequently associated with extensive necrotic or cystic changes. These tumors do not contain calcifications, but they do cause frank bony destruction, as occurred in both of our patients. On magnetic resonance imaging magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), noninvasive diagnostic technique that uses nuclear magnetic resonance to produce cross-sectional images of organs and other internal body structures. , leiomyosarcomas show intermediate enhancement with contrast and intermediate to high signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging. (3)

Differential diagnosis. Depending on the patient's age and the location of the tumor, the differential diagnosis includes malignant schwannoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma malignant fibrous histiocytoma
n.
A deeply situated tumor, especially on the extremities of adults, frequently recurring after surgery and metastasizing to the lungs.
, fibrosarcoms, amelanotic melanoma, malignant lymphoma, squamous cell carcinoma squamous cell carcinoma
n.
A carcinoma that arises from squamous epithelium and is the most common form of skin cancer. Also called cancroid, epidermoid carcinoma.
, extramedullary plasmacytoma, metastatic tumor, glandular tumor, chondroma chondroma /chon·dro·ma/ (kon-dro´mah) pl. chondromas, chondro´mata a benign tumor or tumor-like growth of mature hyaline cartilage. , chondrosarcoma, osteogenic sarcoma, and inverted papilloma. (3,6)

Treatment. Although regional lymph node involvement is rare, when it does occur, resection of the primary tumor with wide margins and neck dissection is the treatment of choice. Recent studies show that combination therapy with mesna, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine or combination therapy with cyclophosphamide cyclophosphamide /cy·clo·phos·pha·mide/ (-fos´fah-mid) a cytotoxic alkylating agent of the nitrogen mustard group; used as an antineoplastic, as an immunosuppressant to prevent transplant rejection, and to treat some diseases , doxorubicin, vincristine vincristine /vin·cris·tine/ (vin-kris´ten) an antineoplastic vinca alkaloid; used as the sulfate salt in the treatment of various neoplasms, including Hodgkin's disease, acute lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Kaposi's , and dacarbazine is effective against soft-tissue sarcomas.

The clinical features of leiomyosarcoma in our 2 patients differed in that patient 1 exhibited orbital involvement and cervical lymph node metastasis. Her prognosis was very poor and despite radical surgery and postoperative chemo- and radiotherapy, she died of complications. Patient 2, who had less extensive disease, responded well to treatment.

References
(1.) Konrad HR. Nasal neoplasms. In: English GM, ed. Otolaryngology. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1993:1-11.
(2.) Ortega JM, Gomez-Angulo JC, Aragones P, et al. [Leiomyosarcoma of the paranasal sinuses with intracranial involvement: Report of a clinical case and review of the literature]. Neurocirugia (Astur) 2001;12:331-7.
(3.) Tanaka H, Westesson PL, Wilbur DC. Leiomyosarcoma of the maxillary sinus: CT and MRI CT and MRI
Two high technology methods of creating images of internal organs. Computerized axial tomography (CT or CAT) uses x rays, while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnet fields and radio-frequency signals. Both construct images using a computer.
findings. Br J Radiol 1998;71: 221-4.
(4.) Carran RL, Myers EN. Neoplasms of the nose and paranasal sinuses. In: Bailey BJ, ed. Head and Neck Surgery: Otolaryngology. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven, 1998:1450.
(5.) Rice DH, Stanley RB. Surgical therapy of tumors of the nasal cavity, ethmoid sinus and maxillary sinus. In: Thawley SE, Panje WR, eds. Comprehensive Management of Head and Neck Tumors. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1999:571.
(6.) Sumida T, Hamakawa H, Otsuka K, Tanioka H. Leiomyosarcoma of the maxillary sinus with cervical lymph node metastasis. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2001;59:568-71.
(7.) Izumi K, Maeda T, Cheng J, Saku T. Primary leiomyosarcoma of the maxilla with regional lymph node metastasis. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 1995;80:310-19.

From the Department of Otolaryngology (Dr. Prasad, Dr. Alva, and Dr. Madhu) and the Department of Pathology (Dr. Khadilkar), Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Mangalore, is a medical college based in Mangalore, Karnataka, India.

It is a constituent college of Manipal University(Formerly known as MAHE), which is a deemed University recognized by an Act of UGC.
, India.

Reprint requests: Kishore Chandra Prasad, MS, DLO, Nethravathi Bldg., 1st Floor, Balmatta, Mangalore 575 001, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka State, South India.

Phone: 91-824-244-5858, ext. 5498; fax:91-824-242-8379; e-mail:kishorecprasad@yahoo.com

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