Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, often abbreviated DFSP, is a rare, locally aggressive malignant cutaneous soft-tissue sarcoma. It develops in the connective tissue cells in the middle layer of the skin, the dermis. Estimates of its overall occurrence in the United States range from 0.8 to 4.5 cases per million persons per year. In the United States it accounts for between 1 and 6 percent of all soft-tissue sarcomas and 18 percent of all cutaneous soft-tissue sarcomas. In the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results tumor registry from 1992 through 2004, DFSP was second only to Kaposi sarcoma among cutaneous soft-tissue sarcomas.