liposarcoma
Meaning of liposarcoma: Liposarcoma is a cancer arising from fat-cell precursors that most often develops in the deep soft tissue of a limb or the abdomen.
Definition of liposarcoma
Liposarcoma is a cancer that arises from cells related to fat tissue, most commonly developing in the deep soft tissue of the limbs or within the abdomen, including the area behind the abdominal cavity known as the retroperitoneum. It is one of several types of sarcoma, a category of cancer that develops in connective tissue such as fat, muscle, or bone rather than in an organ's lining or glandular tissue.
Liposarcoma includes several distinct subtypes that differ in their appearance under the microscope, their genetic features, and how they tend to behave, ranging from slower-growing forms to more aggressive types with a greater tendency to spread. Diagnosis typically relies on imaging together with a tissue biopsy to determine the specific subtype.
Treatment approaches and outlook for liposarcoma vary considerably depending on the subtype, size, location, and extent of the tumor at diagnosis.
How liposarcoma is built
- lip/o Combining form · Greek fat, lipid
- sarc/o Combining form · Greek flesh, connective tissue
- -oma Suffix · Greek tumour, mass, swelling
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Used in a sentence
Biopsy of the thigh mass confirmed a diagnosis of liposarcoma.
Good to know
Liposarcoma subtypes differ substantially in behavior, so a diagnosis of liposarcoma alone does not indicate how aggressive a particular tumor is likely to be without further subtype classification.
Word origin
Where “liposarcoma” comes from
Formed from lipo-, from Greek lipos, meaning "fat," and sarcoma, from Greek sarx, meaning "flesh," combined with -oma, meaning "tumor."