Giant gastric lipoma mimicking well-differentiated liposarcoma

Abstract

Authors report the case of a 51-year-old man, presenting with epigastralgia of recent onset. Physical exam was unremarkable. Endoscopy revealed a large, ulcerated, submucosal, antral tumor. CT scan reveals an antral mass with fat attenuation. The patient underwent a total gastrectomy. Macroscopic examination identified in the antral wall a 9-cm, well-circumscribed, nodular lesion, with a yellow, greasy cut surface. On histological examination, the tumor was composed of a mature adipocytes proliferation, showing significant variation in cell size, associated to some lipoblasts. Nuclei were sometimes large, slightly irregular, but without hyperchromasia nor mitosis. Diagnosis of a well-differentiated liposarcoma was suspected and molecular cytogenetic analyses showed no MDM2 nor CDK4 gene amplification on fluorescent in situ hybridization. The diagnosis of lipoma was made. Twelve months following surgery, the patient is doing well.

Pan African Medical Journal 2012; 13:16