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Soft-tissue tumors

Hemosiderotic fibrolipomatous tumor

Soft tissueIntermediate / locally aggressive or rarely metastasizingTumours of uncertain differentiation

Epidemiology

A rare tumor of adults, frequently described around the ankle and foot. In the ankle or foot, a history of trauma is not enough to explain a persistent mass containing fat and hemosiderin.

Basic features

It combines fatty tissue, fibrosis, and hemosiderin (iron-pigment) deposits, so it can mimic a chronic post-traumatic lesion.

Usual treatment

It is treated with a planned local removal; a biopsy helps to distinguish it from related myxoinflammatory lesions.

Outcomes and prognosis

Local recurrence can happen fairly often, but aggressive systemic behavior is exceptional.

Warning signs

These signs do not necessarily mean cancer, but they warrant evaluation before operating on or needling a mass.

A soft-tissue mass that grows, is larger than 5 cm, or is deep.
Persistent, night-time or progressive bone pain, especially if it limits activity.
A fracture from minimal trauma, or an aggressive bone lesion on an X-ray.
A lump that comes back after previous surgery.
Neurological symptoms, rapid swelling, or pain associated with a mass.

This information is general and does not replace a medical evaluation. A musculoskeletal tumor must be interpreted together with imaging, physical examination, biopsy when appropriate and each patient's context.

Specialist evaluation

If you have a mass, a bone lesion or a report suggesting a tumor, book an evaluation.

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