What Is a Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans?
Commonly known simply as DFSP, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is a type of tumor that has several of the characteristics associated with fibroblasts. In most cases, this tumor develops in the skin, and has the capacity to eventually travel to the lungs, although this is a relatively rare occurrence. For the most part, dealing with a dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans tumor requires surgical removal, since other methods tend to have a very low success rate. Like many types of tumors, a DFSP comes into being because the cells begin to divide rapidly, eventually developing into an abnormal growth. This is because a fusion of two specific genes. The collagen gene and the platelet-derived growth factor gene, take place. The resulting fusion gene does not produce protein, as would normally be the case. Instead, it produces a growth factor that spurs the unusual growth of the tumor, even though the gene itself reads this production as creating protein. At first, the tumor may appear to nothing
