D-dimer levels in the differential diagnosis between lipoma and well-differentiated liposarcoma.

[well-differentiated liposarcoma]

Lipoma and well-differentiated liposarcoma (WDLS ) are two representative lipogenic soft tissue tumors that have similar clinical , radiological , and pathological characteristics . Accordingly , it is difficult to distinguish these tumors preoperatively . Plasma D-dimer levels are associated with the status of tumor progression , and we hypothesized that D-dimer levels could contribute to differential diagnosis . The D-dimer levels of these two entities have not yet been reported .We investigated 43 cases of lipoma and 14 cases of WDLS . We evaluated the utility of D-dimer levels and other clinicopathological factors for preoperative differential diagnosis between the two entities .Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the D-dimer level may contribute to differential diagnosis (area under the curve =0 .73 ). Univariate and multivariate models demonstrated that plasma D-dimer levels (p =0 .001 (univariate ), and p =0 .006 (multivariate )) and lower extremity location (p =0 .006 (univariate ), and p =0 .03 (multivariate )) were independent risk factors for WDLS .The D-dimer level may be a helpful marker for preoperative differential diagnosis between lipoma and WDLS .