Leiomyosarcoma of the Maxillary Sinus With Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis

Leiomyosarcoma accounts for 7% of all soft tissue sarcomas.1 They most commonly arise in the gastrointestinal and female genital tracts, perhaps because of the preponderance of smooth muscle in these organs.2-4 This highly malignant tumor rarely occurs in the head and neck region, and reports of leiomyosarcoma of the maxillary sinus are extremely scarce. It may occur anywhere in the body where smooth muscle is present. Leiomyosarcoma of the head and neck region is considered to originate from the tunica media of blood vessels or pluripotential mesenchymal cells.5,6 Usually, the tumor cells are spindle cell-like. Clinically, leiomyosarcoma is very aggressive and carries a poor prognosis. The 5-year survival rate with disease-free status is 23%.7 We report a case of leiomyosarcoma arising in the maxillary sinus that demonstrated a very aggressive and highly malignant nature. Only a few cases of the primary leiomyosarcoma of maxillary sinus have been reported previously.