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Suggest Treatment For Lipomas On Leg

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Posted on Thu, 19 Feb 2015
Question: I had one lipoma removed on upper right thigh a month ago. Confirmed lipoma 4cm. I have a few others that my dermatoligist has confirmed to be lipomas as well. Two on left leg. One upper and one mid, one side of right arm and one on back of right hamstring. Few more bumps other places that tiny as well. I am curious in that once you have a lipoma removed with confirmed lipoma does that mean all my other bumps are lipomas? Can you have liposarcoma and lipomas growing at the same time? My dermo said sarcomas come in one meaning one bump at a time and lipomas can be multiple. All my bumps are rubberish firrm and move slightly under skin. I am worried the 1cm almost superficial one on mid thigh because i heard lipomas dont grow mid thigh but sarcomas do. A lot of questions i know. Type 1 diabetes for 18 years as well 5'11 208lbs. I have had one gp say all lipomas and my dermo that took out the other lipoma say lipomas for all the rest. Just a little more clarification i guess!
doctor
Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
The risk of liposarcoma is very low at your case.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

Human body is a very complicated and unpredictable mechanism. Every person is different and every case is different. Patients keep having similar symptoms, but analyzing them you get a clue that every symptoms is different for every person. That is why in medicine, we do not use words: always, never, all, none, 100%, etc. Its because you can never be sure. There is always a risk that what you thought to be 100% sure, turns to be 99% sure and you may be in this unlucky 1%. I hope you get the point.

Even if you would have removed 100 of lipomas, you can not be sure that the next one is not a sarcoma. The chance for it is extremely low, almost impossible, but still can happen. Its because we do not understand how life goes inside every body cells. We have only a piece of information.

So answering your next questions, of course you can have lipoma and liposarcoma growing together at the same time. This sounds hardly possible, and still can happen. There is no guarantee at all.

Now lets look at this from the other point of view. I will give you some numbers to clarify this. Sarcomas are rare tumors. Only 1% of all cancers are sarcomas. This makes the risk of having such cancer as 1 to 8500. This is really not much. Lets compare it to something. General risk of being killed in a car accident is 1 to 100. This is 85 times more often than liposarcoma. General risk of being killed by natural forces like storm or earthquake is 1 to 3,357. It would be strange to being scared of storms. I`m pretty sure you do not stay at home for every that just because you are scared of storm. And it is twice more possible that you will be killed by a storm than you will get a sarcoma.

I want you to realize that you should not be scared of sarcoma. You need to accept the risk, but you should live your life. We all need to accept risks of living.

Hope this will help somehow. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (1 hour later)
Ok thanks! Like i said multiple clinicians have checked over the bumps. What is something signaficant about a sarcoma on legs i should look for just in case? Hard, big in muscle or fixed? Like i said my bumps feel like my last lipoma but way smaller.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (17 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Quickly enlarging lump is always suspicious.

Detailed Answer:
You should be aware of fast growing, large lumps. If any of your lipomas will start to enlarge really fast, it makes it suspicious. Injury is a known risk factor of sarcoma appearance. New lump which appears after an injury is also suspicious.
Sarcomas should be much harder than lipoma, can be fixed to the muscles. Legs swelling can also appear.

Regards.
Note: For further inquiries on surgery procedure and its risks or complications book an appointment now

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj
doctor
Answered by
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Dr. Grzegorz Stanko

General Surgeon

Practicing since :2008

Answered : 5795 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Lipomas On Leg

Brief Answer: The risk of liposarcoma is very low at your case. Detailed Answer: Hello! Thank you for the query. Human body is a very complicated and unpredictable mechanism. Every person is different and every case is different. Patients keep having similar symptoms, but analyzing them you get a clue that every symptoms is different for every person. That is why in medicine, we do not use words: always, never, all, none, 100%, etc. Its because you can never be sure. There is always a risk that what you thought to be 100% sure, turns to be 99% sure and you may be in this unlucky 1%. I hope you get the point. Even if you would have removed 100 of lipomas, you can not be sure that the next one is not a sarcoma. The chance for it is extremely low, almost impossible, but still can happen. Its because we do not understand how life goes inside every body cells. We have only a piece of information. So answering your next questions, of course you can have lipoma and liposarcoma growing together at the same time. This sounds hardly possible, and still can happen. There is no guarantee at all. Now lets look at this from the other point of view. I will give you some numbers to clarify this. Sarcomas are rare tumors. Only 1% of all cancers are sarcomas. This makes the risk of having such cancer as 1 to 8500. This is really not much. Lets compare it to something. General risk of being killed in a car accident is 1 to 100. This is 85 times more often than liposarcoma. General risk of being killed by natural forces like storm or earthquake is 1 to 3,357. It would be strange to being scared of storms. I`m pretty sure you do not stay at home for every that just because you are scared of storm. And it is twice more possible that you will be killed by a storm than you will get a sarcoma. I want you to realize that you should not be scared of sarcoma. You need to accept the risk, but you should live your life. We all need to accept risks of living. Hope this will help somehow. Feel free to ask further questions. Regards.