A LONG-TERM SURVIVOR WITH GASTRIC LEIOMYOSARCOMA WITH METACHRONOUS SOLITARY METASTASIS OF THE LIVER DUE TO A SUCCESSFUL HEPATECTOMY

A 64-year-old woman underwent total gastrectomy, splenectomy, and lymph node dissection for a gastric leiomyosarcoma in November 1989. We found a liver tumor, 3cm in diameter, by abdominal ultrasonic study and CT in June 1994, but the patient refused surgical treatment. Hepatic arterial infusion was therefore performed, and the tumor subsequently gradually enlarged. We obtained the patient's consent to surgery and performed left lobectomy in March 1995. The histopathological diagnosis was metastatic liver tumor from gastric leiomyosarcoma. No recurrence or metastasis was detected during about 4-year follow up. Liver metastasis of leiomyosarcoma of the stomach is generally thought to occur in high grade malignancy, but a good outcome can be obtained by early detection of postoperative recurrence and repeated curative operations.