Does anyone know anything about leiomyosarcoma?

Question

My mom was recently diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma after a lump in her breast was biopsied. She had it removed and before she starts radiation therapy, she was sent for a CT scan. It was all clear except for some spots on her liver. According to the doctor these were normally not malignant and she said they would do a follow up CT scan in a couple of months. Does this seem odd? I mean, shouldn't they biopsy the spots now just to be sure. Her cancer is slow growing, but if these spots were malignant it seems it would be better to know now. If you've had any experience with this disease please respond. This has been very hard to deal with and I need any advice I can get.

Answer 1

Leiomyosarcoma [LMS] is a rare cancer..Leiomyosarcoma is a rare soft tissue cancer. The reports I've seen say that it occurs in about 4 out of a million people; about half of those have it in the extremeties. I've been told that it is incurable, since it can reoccur after the cancer is removed."A leiomyoma (lie-oh-my-OH-mah) is a benign tumor that originates from smooth muscle cells. The body's muscular system is composed of both smooth and striated muscle cells. This distinction is based on the microscopic appearance of the cells. Striated muscles are under voluntary control and are used in such activities as walking and moving your arms. Smooth muscles are not under voluntary control and are in locations such as the wall of the intestine and uterus. They also are in some of the valves (sphincters) of your body, such as those that control the flow of bile into your intestine.

Tumors that arise from smooth muscle cells are most common in the wall of the uterus, where they are better known as uterine fibroids. Less often, leiomyomas occur in the wall of the stomach or
intestine and in the skin, where they arise from tiny muscles in the hair follicles that control the erection of hair and cause goose-flesh when you're exposed to cold.

Malignant tumors of smooth muscle origin are called leiomyosarcomas. They rarely arise from benign fibroid tumors of the uterus or leiomyomas of the stomach or intestine."
Treatements vary from case to case, what works for one person may or may not work for someone else. Because of the rarity of the disease, not much is known about treatments. I've heard of the following methods used to treat LMS, you can ask your doctor about which of these might work on you:

chemotherapy
MAID (Mesna, Adriamyacin, Ifosfamide, DTIC) usually given in the hospital over a period of three or four days
Gemcitabine (Gemzar)
Thalidomide
Vitaxin (in clinical trial stage)
surgery
radiation
radio frequency embolization
cryosurgery
alternative cures

Answer 2

I found this website about it:

http://www.leiomyosarcoma.info/