A (9;11)(q34;q13) translocation in a hibernoma

The diagnosis of hibernoma has historically been made by histopathologic examination and finding of characteristic brown fat cells with granular multivacuolated cytoplasm. The diagnosis of hibernoma may be complicated, however, because seemingly diagnostic cells could be mistakenly identified as lipoblasts, leading to the erroneous diagnosis of well-differentiated liposarcoma. Cytogenetic alterations in lipomatous tumors are well established and could be used for diagnostic purposes. Previous cytogenetic abnormalities reported in hibernomas have included alteration of 11q13 region. Here, we present a case of a hibernoma with a novel cytogenetic alteration involving a reciprocal translocation between 9q and 11q that was useful in establishing the final diagnosis.