[An unusual risk of liposuction: liposuction of a malignant tumor. About 2 patients].

Liposuction is a simple and elegant way to treat fatty excess; it has been even used for the treatment of lipomas and some gynecomasties. The goal of this article is to present 2 patients with an unusual complication of this use: the liposuction of a malignant tumor. The first patient consulted following the liposuction of a "gynecomasty", which was in fact a breast cancer. The second was treated by liposuction for an ankle "lipoma"; it proved to be a liposarcoma. In order to avoid liposuction and dissemination of a malignant tumor, the pre-operative investigations have to search clinical peculiarities evoking the diagnosis: an unilateral "gynecomasty", irregular, hard or painless, in a 50-years-old patient, must incite the surgeon to perform a classical excision, just as a recurrent "lipoma", deeply located, voluminous or quickly extensive, situated on the limbs or in the humeroscapular area. Paraclinic investigations may be indicated; doubtful cases must be right away rejected for liposuction, and treated by a surgical excision with strict safety margins and complete anatomopathologic examination of the lesion. Liposuction has become a very useful technique for the plastic surgeon; however, we must not forget, despite of its many advantages the risk for dissemination of an unknown malignant tumor. Every surgeon must keep it in mind and prefer a surgical removal in atypical cases.