Retroperitoneal sarcomas are rare neoplasms that account for only 1%-2% of all solid tumors and liposarcomas represent the most frequent histological type. We describe the case of a 44-year-old female with a retroperitoneal myxoid liposarcoma of 22 × 19 × 8 cm in size. The only symptoms were persistent pain and progressive tenderness of the abdomen lasting for two months. The mass was radically excised during laparotomy. CT and MRI were useful to clarify the site of origin of the tumor, relationships with other organs, and planning surgery but final diagnosis was based on histological findings. Here we review the literature about the challenging diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic factors of this disease.

BPH could be considered the most common benign tumor for men between 60 and 75 years of age. PSA is an unsatisfactory biomarker to define BPH progression to cancer. Recently, sigma-2 receptors have been recognized in several prostate cancer cell lines such as PC-3, DU-145 and LNCaP. It is reported that, in some cases, BPH could progress to malignancy and this progression can not easily be monitored by biomarkers such as PSA. In this paper we investigated 10 specimens from TURP, finding overexpression of sigma-2 receptors in two of these specimens (specimen 1 and 2) accompanied by 4 ng/mL PSA values. We hypothesize that the presence of sigma-2 receptors is related to a BPH progressing in prostate cancer. A possible correlation between sigma-2 receptors and PSA values could be useful to identify this pathological progression.

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