Surgical management of truncal and extremities atypical lipomatous tumors/well-differentiated liposarcoma: A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Introduction: Atypical lipomatous tumors or well-differentiated liposarcomas (ALT/WDLS) are low-grade soft tissue tumors that are commonly located on the trunk and extremities. There is no consensus on the best surgical approach for ALT/WDLS.

Methods: A systematic literature review of PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, and google scholar was performed. All published studies on trunk or extremities ALT/WDLS with reported outcome data were considered and independently screened for inclusion by at least two of the authors.

Results: A total of eighteen studies comprising 793 patients with ALT/WDLS were included. 580 patients underwent marginal excision, with local recurrence observed in 69 (11.9%). 213 patients underwent wide excision with local recurrence in 7(3.3%). Recurrent tumors were successfully re-resected with marginal or wide excision. Dedifferentiation was confirmed in 9 patients (1.1%), and a distant pulmonary metastasis in 1 patient (0.1%).

Discussion: Marginal excision of truncal or extremities ALT/WDLS results in a slightly higher local recurrence rate. However, recurrences are almost always amenable to re-resection. The findings support the use of marginal excision for truncal or extremities ALT/WDLS.

Keywords: Atypical lipoma; Low grade liposarcoma; Systematic review.