What’s myofibroma?

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Myofibroma is the benign formation of smooth and muscle cells that form a tumor within the fibrous connective tissue. It’s not clear why myofibromas develop, but they can be found in most connective tissues, bones, and the abdominal cavity. Myofibromas play a significant role in growth and differentiation as well as wound healing. They can also play a role in the formation of myofibroma cancer and other complications if left untreated.

Found in both adults and infants, myofibromas can appear as solitary tumors or multicentric tumors. Myofibromas come in many variants and a positive prognosis depends on whether there is visceral involvement, i.e. the presence of tumors in vital organs. If organs are affected, mortality rates can increase, as these visceral injuries lead to organ blockage, infection and, in most cases, death. Myofibroma with visceral lesions commonly results in death at birth, or soon after birth, due to cardiopulmonary and gastrointestinal complications.

Solitary myofibromas occur in a few regions and generally have single submucous nodules. Multicentric myfibromas have many submucosal nodules. In both cases, treatment of both solitary and multicentric myofibromas includes surgery and a positive prognosis of spontaneous regression.

Often, myofibromas or myofibromatosis occur in newborns and are more common in infancy during growth and development. Generally, infantile myofibromas can be surgically removed under general anesthesia with a low rate of recurrence. These tumors can appear anywhere in the soft tissue, bone, or vital organs.

Found in adulthood, myofibromas can appear in any tissue and are common in the head and neck areas. They are also more prevalent in wound areas, where connective tissue repair is taking place and fibroblasts – cell groups that contribute to the formation of connective tissue fibers – form scars. Areas that experience repeated injury will have a higher rate of myofibroma formations. In most cases, these types of myofibroma tumors can be surgically removed.

Myofibroma tumors also play a vital role in the inflammatory process, by producing intracellular adhesion molecules, along with vascular and neural adhesion molecules that facilitate lymphocyte production. These lymphocytes participate in inflammatory and immunological reactions that can lead to a disease state. They can produce molecules such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans, which contribute to growth differentiation and wound healing. If left alone or misdiagnosed, these formations can produce tissue fibrosis, which can lead to cancerous disease.

Careful diagnosis is essential for a doctor, because most myofibroma tumors can be surgically removed with little or no difficulty. Misdiagnosis, however, could lead to the proliferation of fibrotic tissue. This can lead to the development of the disease.

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