Prognostic factors in primary gastrointestinal leiomyosarcoma: a retrospective study

Thirty-six patients who were admitted for surgical resection of leiomyosarcomas of the gastrointestinal tract to the Department of Surgery II, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, Japan and its affiliates are included in the study. Follow-up data on survival is available for 32 patients. The clinico-pharmacologic variables, such as tumor site, tumor size, cellularity, mitotic index, and DNA ploidy pattern were analyzed and the results proved to correlate with the prognosis. Thirteen (41%) of the patients presented with distant metastases and/or recurrences, with hematogenous metastasis being the predominant type of recurrence. Local recurrences and/or distant metastases were significantly correlated with survival (p less than 0.001), as was tumor site (p less than 0.03), tumor size (p less than 0.04), surgical treatment (p = 0.05), and DNA ploidy pattern (p = 0.06). Neither the mitotic index nor the cellularity proved to be significantly correlated with survival. Furthermore, some of the patients with local recurrences or distant metastases survived long after resection of recurrent tumors. In view of the results, aggressive surgical resection may be an efficient treatment of recurrences.