Table 1.

Different subtypes of liposarcoma.⁷

Liposarcoma subtype	Prevalence	Histological features	Diagnostic differentiation
Well-differentiated variant	Most common subtype	Multi-lobular, fairly well-circumscribed but unencapsulated tumor. Round to polygonal cells arranged in solid sheets with a single clear fat vacuole and peripheral nuclear displacement. Low mitotic activity.	Infiltrative lipomas (which lack mitotic figures and show no evidence of anaplasia)
Myxoid variant	Uncommon subtype	Multi-lobular and non-encapsulated with poorly defined mass margins. Mixture of lipocytes, with a single large and clear cytoplasmic lipid vacuole compressing the nuclei. Lipoblasts and scattered spindle and stellate cells inter-spersed in a myxoid background with small number of collagen fibrils.	Myxosarcoma (which lacks cytoplasmic lipid-filled vacuoles)
Pleomorphic liposarcoma	Medium subtype	Pleomorphic cells of variable size and shape, and large bizarre multi-nucleated cells. Abundant eosinophilic cytoplasmthat may appear glassy or foamy (intra-cytoplasmic distinct fat vacuoles in a few cells).	Pleomorphic mesenchymal malignancies