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Liposarcoma CT

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Alejandro Lemor, M.D. [2]

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.


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