Myxoid liposarcoma, microscopy

  • William R. Geddie
  • Digital Images
  • Online

Available online

view Myxoid liposarcoma, microscopy

CC0 1.0 Universal

You can use this work for any purpose without restriction under copyright law. Read more about this licence.

Credit

Myxoid liposarcoma, microscopy. William R. Geddie. CC0 1.0 Universal. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Selected images from this work

View 1 image

About this work

Description

Liposarcoma, a type of cancer in which the tumour cells show the characteristics of fat cells, and is the most common soft tissue sarcoma. It is slow-growing and painless, and most commonly presents in middle-aged adults. It is extremely rare in children. There are six subtypes of liposarcoma, with the three most common called 'well-differentiated', 'myxoid' (round cell), and 'pleomorphic'. On rare occasions liposarcoma can present cells of multiple types, in which case it is known as a mixed-type liposarcoma. Here, a sample of myxoid liposarcoma is shown, and is the second most common subtype. It is characterized by variable proportions of round and oval mesenchymal cells, cells which have the ability to develop into a variety of cell types including connective tissue. A smear made from tumour has been stained with MGG (May Grünwald Giemsa) to distinguish between different cell types; the red/pink cells are red blood cells, and the purple stain identifies sarcoma cells. Multiple vacuolated (holed) cells are also present which are called lipoblasts, and are precursors of adipocytes (fat cells). Horizontal image width 215 micrometers.

Contributors

Permanent link