Leiomyosarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract: should we consider metastasis to regional lymph nodes?

About one third of leiomyosarcomas of the gastrointestinal tract do develop metastasis; and nearly 90% of the metastasis are intra-abdominal. It is said that leiomyosarcoma rarely involves regional nodes, although two series reported 8% of leiomyosarcomas of the stomach and 7% of the small intestines had nodal metastasis at initial operations (mostly of limited resections). It is suggested that wider resection of primary tumor with adjacent mesentery may reveal higher frequency of occult nodal metastasis and might prevent some of the loco-regional relapse and sarcomatosis.