Most frequent umbilical tumors: an update

Abstract

Background: Umbilical tumors can originate from a multitude of cell lines due to the variety of structures involved in their ontogeny. Material and methods: A literature review was conducted based on the main bibliographic databases, including MEDLINE (PubMed), LILACS (including SciELO), ScienceDirect, Ovid, Google, and the Cochrane Library. Specific keywords related to umbilical tumors were used, such as umbilical tumors, umbilical neoplasms, tumors of the umbilicus, tumors of the umbilical cord, umbilical cancer, and neoplasias umbilicales. Critical analysis was performed on articles, books, and monographs in both Spanish and English, and included both pediatric and adult populations. Results: Up to 2 % of the pediatric population presents a failure in the involution of any of the components of the umbilical cord, which could lead to developing tumors: almost all of them are benign. Amongst these tumors the most common is the umbilical polyp or adenoma, which develops from mucosal ectopia and/or remains of the omphalomesenteric duct, its treatment is surgical. In adults, more than 10 % of abdominal wall tumors develop in this area. The incidence is much higher in women, and malignant ones predominate. Most of them are secondary: Sister Mary Joseph´s nodules or port site metastases (without and with a history of previous oncological surgery, respectively). Prognosis is usually poor and treatment is mainly palliative. Amongst the benign tumors of the adult, the endometrioma is worth mentioning, which can be spontaneous-cutaneous or incisional at the umbilicus. Management is extensive excision, in addition to hormone therapy, due to the risk of recurrence or malignancy. Conclusion: It is essential to understand the basics of the most common umbilical tumors in clinical practice, as it allows for the establishment of an early diagnostic suspicion and appropriate definitive treatment. the most frequent tumors in the umbilical area allows for an early diagnosis and a definitive correct treatment.