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Isolation and Characterization of Tumor-initiating Cells from Sarcoma Patient-derived Xenografts
Published on: June 13, 2019
Dedifferentiated liposarcoma with heterologous rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation in the bone marrow
Spencer Scott1, Laleh Hakima2, Evan Raff3
1The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Abstract:
We present a case of advanced well-differentiated liposarcoma transforming to dedifferentiated liposarcoma in the bone marrow.Our patient presented with 5 weeks of worsening flank pain. He was found to have profound leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and normocytic anemia. Imaging showed a dominant retrocaval mass concerning for viable disease. Bone marrow biopsy revealed dedifferentiated liposarcoma with heterologous rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation. He underwent 3 cycles of eribulin and subsequently developed complications of his increasingly aggressive liposarcoma. He was transitioned to hospice care and died 3 months after initial bone marrow biopsy. While exceedingly rare, it is possible for liposarcoma to metastasize to the bone marrow and cause rapid progression to death. In patients with high-grade liposarcoma, new cytopenia, leukocytosis, elevated granulocyte colony stimulating factor, and/or leukoerythroblasosis on peripheral smear should prompt bone marrow biopsy for early detection of this rare disease entity.

