ATYPICAL FIBROXANTHOMA OF THE SKIN

Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a rare skin tumour related to the group of fibrohistiocytic tumours. The tumour is most often occurs in elderly people against the background of photodamage of the skin. As a rule, it is located in the area of the head, shoulders, upper third of the back. It is typical of local destructive growth and extremely rare metastasis. However, in patients, against the background of immunosuppression, aggressive behaviour of this tumor is possible. The similarity of atypical fibroxanthoma with such aggressive tumours as amelanotic melanoma and Merkel's carcinoma poses a problem for the clinician. The diagnosis can be reliably made based solely on characteristic histological and immunohistochemical findings. We present a case of this tumour in a 72-year-old patient with photodamaged skin in combination with other skin tumours.