Skin nonmelanocytic tumor
Fibrous, fibrohistiocytic and myofibroblastic neoplasms
Fibroepithelial polyp
Author: Hillary Rose Elwood, M.D.
Topic Completed: 1 May 2015
Minor changes: 1 October 2020
Copyright: 2002-2020, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Fibroepithelial polyp [title]
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Clinical features | Prognosis and treatment | Case reports | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Elwood H. Fibroepithelial polyp. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skintumornonmelanocyticfibroepithelialpolyp.html. Accessed October 24th, 2020.
Definition / general
- Also known as acrochordon, skin tag, soft fibroma, cutaneous papilloma, cutaneous tag, fibroma pendulum, fibroma molluscum
- Common, benign skin lesion of adults
- Usually occur on intertriginous areas (i.e. axilla, groin), face, neck, eyelids
- Associated with diabetes, abnormal lipid profile, other components of metabolic syndrome (Eur J Dermatol 2012;22:106)
- Multiple lesions can be seen in Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome
- May increase in number during pregnancy
Clinical features
- Soft papilloma, flesh colored to dark brown, sessile to pedunculated
- A few millimeters to multiple centimeters in size
- Larger lesions often attach to skin by slender stalks
Prognosis and treatment
- Benign lesions, excised for cosmetic reasons
Case reports
- 62 year old man with giant fibroepithelial polyp of glans penis (Can Urol Assoc J 2013;7:E621)
Clinical images
Images hosted on other servers:
Penile fibroepithelial polyp
Fibroepithelial polyp
at posterior wall of
external auditory canal
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Fibrovascular cores covered by squamous epithelium
- Larger lesions may have a flattened epidermis
- Smaller lesions can have epidermal hyperplasia or seborrheic keratosis-like changes
- Central core composed of loose collagen with increased blood vessels
- In larger lesion, may have a central core of adipose tissue
- Pagetoid dyskeratosis is sometimes present as an incidental finding
- May have ischemic necrosis due to torsion
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Acrochordon
Edematous stroma
Stellate fibroblasts
Dermal edema
Keratinized squamous epithelium
Epidermis with hyperkeratosis
Differential diagnosis
- Accessory tragus: location, vellus hairs, and sometimes cartilage present
- Cutaneous pseudosarcomatous polyp: polyp with bizarre stroma cells, thought to be a degenerative phenomenon (Ann Diagn Pathol 2008;12:440)
- Pedunculated seborrheic keratosis: less stroma, epidermal changes of seborrheic keratosis
- Pleomorphic fibroma: CD34+ pleomorphic hyperchromatic spindle cells with rare mitotic figures
- Polypoid intradermal melanocytic nevus: nests of melanocytes within dermis
