The case of oropharynx liposarcoma: Recurrent fibrolipoma with late malignant change, and histological-type change

• Published in: JOURNAL OF JAPAN SOCIETY FOR HEAD AND NECK SURGERY Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 211 - 217
• Main Authors: Mihashi, Yasuhito, Sueta, Takayuki, Koizumi, Yutaka, Sato, Susumu, Fukuzaki, Tsutomu, Miyagi, Morimichi, Okado, Yasuko, Nabesima, Kazuki, Nakagawa, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: JAPAN SOCIETY FOR HEAD AND NECK SURGERY 2013
• Subjects: fibrolipoma; head and neck; liposarcoma; malignant change
• ISSN: 1349-581X; 1884-474X
• DOI: 10.5106/jjshns.23.211

Liposarcoma is the second most common among soft tissue malignant tumors in adults, after malignant fibrous histiocytomas. However, the incidence of liposarcoma in the head and neck region is extremely rare. Liposarcoma is believed to originate from primitive mesenchymal cells rather than mature fat cells, so liposarcoma seldom originates from fat tissue or lipoma (fibrolipoma). Liposarcoma is divided into five histological types: well-differentiated, myxoid, round-cell, pleomorphic, and dedifferentiated. The prognosis of liposarcoma depends on the histological type; well-differentiated and myxoid types are considered to be low-grade malignancies, whereas the round-cell, pleomorphic and dedifferentiated types are regarded as high-grade. The common treatment of liposarcoma has been complete, wide surgical excision. We report the case of liposarcoma arising from the oropharynx space in a 68-year-old male. The initial diagnosis (37 years old) was fibrolipoma; after that, fibrolipoma or lipoma recurred 6 times. Then, a malignant change had occurred by the 7th recurrence with well-differentiated liposarcoma, and a histological-type change had occurred by the 8th recurrence with dedifferentiated liposarcoma.