Brown fat is a form of fetal adipose tissue that may persist in adults. It rarely may involve the bone marrow.
Detection:
(1) imaging studies for metastatic cancer
(2) incidental finding on bone marrow biopsy
Appearance on routine H&E stains:
(1) adipocytes with an eosinophilic cytoplasm with numerous microvacuoles
(2) may form a benign hibernoma-like mass
Immunohistochemical markers for brown fat:
(1) S100 positive
(2) CD68 negative
(3) UCP-1 (uncoupling protein I) positive (associated with mitochondrial proliferation)
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Specialty: Hematology Oncology