Abstract
The occurence of liposarcoma (LS) in the tongue is rare with only 34 cases published so far. We report six new cases of atypical lipomatous tumor (ALT) of the tongue, and detection of mdm-2 and CDK4 expression by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) respectively was performed.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the third largest series reporting ocurrence of ALT in the tongue and the first one, where analysis of mdm-2 and CDK4 proteins/genes expression/amplification was performed. Both these markers may be of help in the differential diagnosis of ALT versus lipoma.
Although most ALTs of the tongue behave in the non-aggressive fashion, they may recur locally. Based on current data, the term ALT is strongly recommended for tumors occuring in the tongue to prevent inadequate treatment.