A case of liposarcoma originating in the chest wall.

We encountered and reported one such rare case of liposarcoma which originated in the chest wall. A 60-year-old man came to our hospital with the chief complaint of a phyma in the right anterior chest wall. On palpation, a hard and non-mobile phyma measuring 3 x 3 cm was felt in the chest wall. Chest CT showed a phyma measuring 2.2 x 1.5 cm in the right anterior chest. The periphery of the phyma was smooth, and had a well-defined boundary with the surrounding tissues. Ultrasonic examination revealed that the tumor existed between the major and minor pectoral muscles. The inside of the tumor was nearly uniform, and showed low echo. Punctured cytological examination revealed scattered atypical cells with spindle, foamy or vacuolar sporophores on the mucoid matrix. A fat staining examination revealed lipoblasts with oil red-positive granules. Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed as having myxoid type liposarcoma. Operation consisted of resection of the skin, subcutaneous tissues, mammary gland, part of major and minor pectoral muscles, the fourth and fifth ribs and pleura. The Reconstruction of the chest wall was performed for defects in the ribs and pleura using Marlex Mesh. Histopathological findings revealed that the tumor was myxoid type liposarcoma.