Desmoid skin tumor: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Desmoid skin tumor (syn: abdominal desmoid, muscular aponeurotic fibromatosis, desmoid fibroma) is a benign tumor that develops from muscle aponeurosis.

Desmoid skin tumors usually occur in women who have given birth at 30-50 years of age, usually after an injury, mainly in the lower abdomen and in the shoulder region. It looks like a deep, often single, dense node. With prolonged existence, it can germinate into nearby tissues and organs, destroying them. In these cases, the skin can be ulceration. May occur in Gardner's syndrome.

Pathomorphology of the desmoid skin tumor. The tumor consists of fibroblasts, producing collagen and arranged in the form of bundles, in places there are structures resembling aponeurosis. As a rule, there are no atypical nuclei and mitoses. Depending on the number of cells, some authors distinguish fibromatous and sarcomatous variants of the desmoid. The latter is rich in cells, close to fibrosarcoma, but differs from it mainly in monomorphism, in the abundance of collagen fibers, in the rarity of mitoses. There may be areas of mucosal or calcification with a tendency to penetrate into the surrounding tissue, especially the muscles, followed by their destruction.

Histogenesis of a desmoid skin tumor. Desmoid tumor by the majority of authors is considered a true tumor, although some researchers argue that this is a hyperplasia of connective tissue by analogy with a keloid scar. In electron microscopy, myofibroblasts are found, which suggests that the process is based on atypical proliferation of myofibroblasts.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5]