MALIGNANT-TUMORS IN LYMPHEDEMA

Malignant tumour arising in chronic congenital or acquired lymphedema is a rare medical condition. However it must be well known because of the usual severity of these highly malignant neoplams. Stewart-Treves angiosarcoma is the most frequent tumour: it is a vascular malignant t umour, which mostly occur in post-surgical or radiotherapic lymphedema for breast cancer. It differs from secondary metastasis arising in ly mphedema although the clinical and histological appearance is often ve ry close. Other tumours can grow on this ground: Kaposi's sarcoma, squ amous cell carcinoma, malignant lymphoma, melanoma. On the pathogenic point of view, many factors converge to this tumoral occurence: lympha tic stasis and the reorganization of the conjonctival tissue that it w ill entail, the local immunodeficiency, and also systemic factors as a general immunodeficiency or viral potentially oncogenic infections su ch as papillomavirus. In practice, the prevention of lymphedema, the r egular monitoring of constitued lymphedemas, the hygienic and preventi ve behaviours of infections are the best arrangements to avoid this tu moral occurence.