Cutaneous and subcutaneous fibrolipomas in 236 dogs, 2017-2024: a retrospective case series and comparative review

Fibrolipoma is a well-recognized benign neoplasm composed of adipocytes transected by fibrous connective tissue, but large population studies on these neoplasms are lacking in veterinary medicine. We retrospectively searched for canine cutaneous and subcutaneous fibrolipomas submitted to the surgical diagnostic pathology service of the Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (Athens, GA, USA) between 2017 and 2024. We retrieved 236 neoplasms from 64,560 biopsies. The median age of affected patients was 8 y (±2.8 y), with an average tumor size of 2.9 cm (±2.3 cm). The head was the location affected most commonly (31.9% of cases), followed by the carpal area (10.3%), elbow (9.9%), thorax (6.9%), and abdominal wall (5.6%). Most cases were classified as cutaneous (90%). Compared with the total number of biopsy submissions, castrated male (46.2%; p = 0.013) and Labrador Retriever (23%; p = 0.047) dogs were affected most often.