Malignant transformation of Madelung's disease in a patient with a coincidental diagnosis of breast cancer: a case report

• Published in: Diagnostic pathology Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 116
• Main Authors: Borriello, Maddalena, Lucidi, Alessandro, Carbone, Arnaldo, Iannone, Vito, Ferrandina, Gabriella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 01.09.2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adipose tissues; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - pathology; Care and treatment; Case Report; Case studies; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic - pathology; Congenital diseases; Consent; CT imaging; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Disease; Female; Histology; Humans; Lipomatosis, Multiple Symmetrical - pathology; Liposarcoma - pathology; Lymphatic system; Madelung disease; Magnetic resonance imaging; Malignant degeneration; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; Mitochondrial DNA; Mutation; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary - pathology; Oncology; Pathogenesis; Surgery; Tumors; Italy
• ISSN: 1746-1596; 1746-1596
• DOI: 10.1186/1746-1596-7-116

Madelung's disease or multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL) is a rare disorder of unknown etiology which typically presents symmetrically subcutaneous accumulation of non-encapsulated adipose tissue which slowly grows around the neck, upper part of the arms, pelvis, back and thigh. This disease is also frequently associated with hepatopathy, glucose intolerance, hyperuricemia, and malignant tumors of the upper airways. Nevertheless, only one description of malignant transformation of Madelung's disease has been presented in literature. Here, we report a case of liposarcomatous transformation of Madelung's disease in a 59-year-old Italian woman with a coincidental diagnosis of breast cancer. The virtual slide for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/3480884087499351.