What is the Difference Between Leiomyoma and Leiomyosarcoma

The key difference between leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma is that leiomyoma is a benign tumor of the uterus, while leiomyosarcoma is a malignant tumor that occurs in the uterus, blood vessels, intestines, stomach, and bladder.

Leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma are two different tumors affecting the uterus. Both these tumors arise from smooth muscles. Leiomyoma is benign and is also known as uterine fibroids. On the other hand, leiomyosarcoma is a malignant tumor arising from a hereditary or de-novo mutation. It can be observed in areas such as the uterus, blood vessels, intestines, stomach, and bladder in the body. It is also known as soft tissue sarcoma.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Leiomyoma  
3. What is Leiomyosarcoma
4. Similarities – Leiomyoma and Leiomyosarcoma
5. Leiomyoma vs Leiomyosarcoma in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Leiomyoma vs Leiomyosarcoma

What is Leiomyoma (or Uterine Fibroids)?

Leiomyoma is a common growth in the uterus. It normally appears during years when women are usually able to get pregnant and give birth. The common symptoms of this condition may include heavy menstrual bleeding or painful periods, longer periods, pelvic pain, frequent urination, growing stomach area, constipation, and pain in the stomach area or lower back during sex. Leiomyoma can be caused by gene changes, hormones (estrogen and progesterone), growth factors like insulin growth factor, and extracellular matrix. The risk factors for this condition include race (black people are affected more), family history, starting periods before age 10, obesity, low vitamin D, a diet higher in red meat and lower in green vegetables, fruit and dairy, and drinking too much alcohol.

Leiomyoma can be diagnosed through pelvic examination, ultrasound, MRI, hysterosonography, hysterosalpingography, hysteroscopy, and lab tests. Furthermore, treatment options for leiomyoma may include medicines such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists, progestin-releasing intrauterine device (IUD), tranexamic acid, low dose birth control pills, MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery (FUS), uterine artery embolization, radiofrequency ablation, laparoscopic or robotic myomectomy, hysteroscopic myomectomy, and endometrial ablation.

What is Leiomyosarcoma (or Soft Tissue Sarcoma)?

Leiomyosarcoma is an aggressive cancer that grows in the smooth muscles located in the body’s hollow organs, such as blood vessels, intestines, stomach, bladder, and uterus. It is also known as soft tissue sarcoma. This rare cancer affects both men and women, and it is more common in adults than in children. Moreover, symptoms of leiomyosarcoma may include pain, fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, unintentional weight loss, a lump under the skin, swelling that occurs near the tumor, abdominal bloating, loss of appetite, dark stools, vomiting of blood, changes in the bladder and bowel habits, unusual vaginal discharge, and bleeding. Leiomyosarcoma can be caused by hereditary gene changes, de novo mutation, or past radiation therapy.

Leiomyosarcoma can be diagnosed through family history, physical examination, and imaging tests such as CT scan, MRI, and PET scan. Furthermore, treatment options for leiomyosarcoma may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted drug therapy.

What are the Similarities Between Leiomyoma and Leiomyosarcoma?

• Leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma are two different tumors affecting the uterus.
• Both these tumors arise from smooth muscles.
• Both these tumors can be seen in women.
• They can be diagnosed through physical examination and imaging tests.
• They are mainly treated through specific medicines and surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Leiomyoma and Leiomyosarcoma?

Leiomyoma is a benign tumor of the uterus, while leiomyosarcoma is a malignant tumor that occurs in the uterus, blood vessels, intestines, stomach, and bladder. Thus, this is the key difference between leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma. Furthermore, leiomyoma is a common tumor, while leiomyosarcoma is a rare tumor.

The infographic below presents the differences between leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Leiomyoma vs. Leiomyosarcoma

Leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma are two different tumors arising from smooth muscles and affecting the uterus. Both these conditions can be seen in women. Leiomyosarcoma can affect men as well. However, leiomyoma is a benign tumor that arises from the smooth muscle cells in the uterus, while leiomyosarcoma is an aggressive tumor that arises from the smooth muscle cells in the uterus, blood vessels, intestines, stomach, and bladder. Moreover, leiomyoma is more common, whereas leiomyosarcoma is very rare. So, this summarizes the difference between leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma.

Reference:

1. Brito, Luiz Gustavo, et al. “Uterine Leiomyoma: Understanding the impact of symptoms on womens’ lives.” Reproductive Health, vol. 11, no. 1, 2014.
2. “Leiomyosarcoma Cancer: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, & What It Is.” Cleveland Clinic.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Uterine leiomyoma (3) with ischemic necrosis” (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Uterine leiomyosarcoma (5)” (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia