Symptoms of sarcomatous changes in uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors of the female genitalia, which can undergo a variety of degenerations, such as hyaline degeneration (also known as transparent degeneration), cystic degeneration, red degeneration, sarcomatoid degeneration, and calcification, etc. Among them, the probability of malignant transformation of fibroids into sarcomas is 0.4% to 0.8%, and the pathogenesis is still unclear.

Sarcoma in Western medicine is a general term for malignant tumors of mesenchymal tissues. Its incidence is lower than that of cancer. About 1% of malignant tumors are sarcomas. Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare uterine malignancy, accounting for 1.28% to 2% of uterine malignancies. It is mostly caused by the malignant transformation of leiomyoma. Primary cases are rare, but the prognosis of leiomyosarcoma originating from the uterine muscle is worse than that of leiomyosarcoma secondary to malignant transformation of leiomyoma. The most common clinical manifestations of such patients are uterine enlargement, irregular vaginal bleeding, and lower abdominal pain. The cross-section of the malignant tumor is gray-yellow and soft, like raw fish meat, without capsule, and the tumor cells are spindle-shaped under the microscope.

Uterine fibroid sarcomatous transformation is more common in older women, with an average age of 55. If a patient's fibroids rapidly increase in size in a short period of time or are accompanied by irregular vaginal bleeding, the possibility of sarcomatous transformation should be considered. If a woman's fibroids increase in size during the desperate period, she should be alert to malignant transformation.

In short, patients with uterine fibroids should be diagnosed and treated early to avoid delaying the disease and causing serious consequences. Treatment should be considered comprehensively based on the patient's age, fertility requirements, symptoms, location and size of the fibroids, etc.