Atypical
Fibroxanthoma.
Rare skin cancer of the elderly.
Skin Cancer
Atypical fibroxanthoma is a rare Skin Cancer.
Atypical
What is Atypical Fibroxanthoma?
Atypical Fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a rare Skin Tumour that occurs in response to UV light.
Who gets them?
Think of Atypical Fiboxanthoma (AFX) in an older fair-skinned man with an enlarging nodule on the head or neck.
What does Atypical Fibroxanthoma look like?
Naked Eye
The appearance is not specific and, particularly when scaly, may look like squamous cell carcinoma.
The final diagnosis is made by expert pathological examination of a good quality, deep biopsy sample. Diagnosis is not straightforward, and special stains are often required to distinguish the AFX from ‘undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma’ (UPS).
The tumor is low grade but does require surgical excision with wide margins to keep the rate of recurrence to a minimum.
Mohs surgery is an additional option.
Gallery of Fibroxanthoma
Please click on the images for details.
Why do they matter?
Atypical Fibroxanthoma may be diagnosed late for these reasons:
- Older guys may not be looking after themselves by, for example, getting a regular skin check and keeping an eye on their skin.
- The appearance of AFX probabaly won’t shout out ‘skin cancer’ because the appearance is non specific.
- The condition is rare.
AFX is a significant skin cancer in that treatment is more challenging than SCC or BCC.
Metastases (distance spread) occurs in 0.5% to 4% of cases.
REFERENCES
- Velit, phasellus iaculis etiam felis praesent
- Aptent habitant bibendum ridiculus cursus laoreet felis penatibus semper rutrum dis cursus. Litora sagittis aptent mollis porta lacinia
- Odio curabitur convallis mauris, ligula ac donec dictum phasellus
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