Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Liposarcoma CT
Introduction
Overview
Overview
CT imaging is crucial for the diagnosis of liposarcoma. CT scan may detect regions of lipid and non-lipid components that correlate with histological subtypes of liposarcoma. CT imaging may demonstrate the size, location, and depth of a liposarcoma, as well as lymph node involvement and distant metastasis. CT findings may be correlated with the histopathological subtype.
CT Scan
CT Scan
- A CT image commonly detects areas of focal or diffuse infiltration of lipid and non-lipid components.
- The appearance and morphologic relationship between the lipid and non-lipid components of a liposarcoma on CT scan frequently help in identifying the specific histologic subtype of liposarcoma.[1]
- CT scan also determines the size and depth of the tumor, stage of the disease, presence of lymphadenopathy, and evidence of distal metastasis.[2]
CT Findings According to the Liposarcoma Subtype
| Subtypes | Density | Margins | Fat Content | Nodular muscle-density area in tumor | Calcifications | Necrotic or cystic areas |
| Atypical lipomatous tumor/well-differentiated liposarcoma (ALT/WDL) | Fat | Smooth regular | > 65% | ++ | Few/none | + |
| Dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDL) | Mixed | Rough irregular | 30-60% | +++ | Few/none | ++ |
| Myxoid/round cell liposarcoma (ML/RCL) | Mixed | Rough irregular | 25-50% | + | Common | +++ |
| Pleomorphic liposarcoma (PL) | Soft tissue | Incomplete irregular | 6-25% | + | Few/none | + |
| Mixed-type liposarcoma | Mixed | Smooth regular | 30-60% | ++ | Common | + |
| Table adapted from Lu J, Qin Q, Zhan LL, et al. Computed tomography manifestations of histologic subtypes of retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014;15(15):6041-6.[3] | ||||||
References
References
- ↑ Kim, T; Murakami, T; Oi, H; Tsuda, K; Matsushita, M; Tomoda, K; Fukuda, H; Nakamura, H (1996). “CT and MR imaging of abdominal liposarcoma”. American Journal of Roentgenology. 166 (4): 829–833. doi:10.2214/ajr.166.4.8610559. ISSN 0361-803X.
- ↑ Kumarasamy, Narmadan A.; Gayer, Gabriela (2011). “Retroperitoneal Sarcomas”. Seminars in Ultrasound, CT and MRI. 32 (5): 422–432. doi:10.1053/j.sult.2011.06.002. ISSN 0887-2171.
- ↑ Jing Lu, Qin Qin, Liang-Liang Zhan, Xi Yang, Qing Xu, Jing Yu, Li-Na Dou, Hao Zhang, Yan Yang, Xiao-Chen Chen, Yue-Hua Yang, Hong-Yan Cheng & Xin-Chen Sun (2014). “Computed tomography manifestations of histologic subtypes of retroperitoneal liposarcoma”. Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP. 15 (15): 6041–6046. PMID 25124571.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Alejandro Lemor, M.D. [2]