Recurrent cutaneous leiomyosarcoma.

BACKGROUND. Soft tissue sarcomas comprise approximately 0.7% of all malignant neoplasms. Superficial leiomyosarcoma, a rare malignant lesion, constitutes 4.0-6.5% of all soft tissue sarcomas, an overall incidence of approximately 0.04% among all cancers. Currently, less than 125 cumulative cases of cutaneous and subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma have been reported in the English literature. METHODS. The authors report the case of a 70-year-old Japanese man with recurrent cutaneous leiomyosarcoma who was treated by wide local excision. A comprehensive literature survey is also presented. RESULTS. The patient is free from recurrence 1 year after wide local excision of a second recurrence of cutaneous leiomyosarcoma. Moreover, superficial leiomyosarcoma can be subdivided into cutaneous leiomyosarcoma and subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma, based on histopathologic and prognostic differences. CONCLUSIONS. The treatment of choice of superficial leiomyosarcoma is wide local excision. Cutaneous leiomyosarcoma is associated with local recurrence only, although subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma undergoes metastatic spread in 30-60% of cases, with a 30-40% mortality rate.