in 1994 I had a complete hysterectomy. in 2007 I had a 14 lb tumor removed from an ovary remnant. 5/5/14 I had retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma removed and am now going to start radiation. 1. how is it possible to leave an ovary remnant behind? & 2 could that have caused the cancer?
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. In my opinion the newer lesions must be due to peritoneal seeding by tumor cells. Yes, you are right, that remnants can be left by negligence of operating surgeon and this can cause recurrence.  But chances of this OS very less. During surgery, due to handling of tumor mass, there is great risk of spillage and peritoneal seeding by tumor cells. This is unavoidable. So this can give rise to recurrence.  So in modern era this is the reason for which post-operative chemotherapy and radiotherapy is given. The basic principle is to kill seeded malignant cells. So peritoneal seeding during surgical handling can be the cause for your recurrence.