Myxoid tumours: A guide to the morphological and immunohistochemical assessment of soft tissue myxoid lesions encountered in general surgical pathology

Abstract

Many tumours show a component of stromal myxoid material. While the presence of a prominent myxoid component prompts consideration of a ‘myxoid tumour’ such a designation does not necessarily progress the diagnostic process since myxoid tumours have a broad potential histogenesis and vary in clinical significance from benign to malignant.

The presence of a prominent myxoid stroma may obscure characteristic architectural and cytological features and may decrease their density in the material available for assessment.

In the light of recent work characterizing many of these entities, this review seeks to provide descriptions of many of the soft tissue myxoid tumours encountered in general surgical pathology and to provide (in the form of algorithms) a suggested approach to the histopathological assessment of them.