Clinicopathological features, treatment and prognosis of scalp angiosarcoma：16 case reports / 中华皮肤科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate clinicopathological features of scalp angiosarcoma, and to analyze the relationship of tumor stage and treatment with prognosis. Methods Clinical and follow-up data were collected from 16 patients with non-metastatic primary scalp angiosarcoma treated in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University from September 2002 to June 2013. According to the seventh edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)TNM staging system for soft tissue sarcomas (2010), staging of scalp angiosarcoma was performed for the 16 patients. Statistical analysis was carried out by the Kaplan-Meier method for survival rates and by the Log-rank test for survival curve. The Cox regression model was used for multivariate regression analysis. Results Of the 16 patients, 4 had stageⅠangiosarcoma, 4 stage Ⅱangiosarcoma, and 8 stage Ⅲ angiosarcoma. The tumor usually began as ecchymosis-like lesions on the head or face in early stage, and progressed into dark red infiltrative plaques, nodules and ulcers which easily ruptured and bled in later stage. Histopathological examination showed generalized vascular proliferation and infiltration with high histological morphological diversity. Cytologic atypia was commonly seen. The median time to recurrence was 15 months, and local recurrence occurred in 7 patients. The median time to metastasis was 20.5 months, and distant metastasis was observed in 8 cases, including 4 cases of pulmonary metastasis, 2 lymph node metastasis, 1 liver metastasis and 1 bone metastasis. The survival time was 33.0 ± 4.4 months (median, 32 months)in 4 patients with stage Ⅰangiosarcoma, 24.0 ± 7.9 months(median, 15 months)in 4 patients with stage Ⅱangiosarcoma, and 23.9 ± 3.9 months (median, 24 months)in 8 patients with stage Ⅲ angiosarcoma. Additionally, the survival time was 23.4 ± 5.2 months(median, 21 months), 24.4 ± 5.7 months(median, 24 months)and 35.8 ± 9.7 months(median, 26 months) in 5 patients receiving surgical treatment alone, 7 patients receiving surgical treatment and radiotherapy, and 4 patients receiving surgical treatment, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, respectively. Conclusions Surgical treatment combined with radiotherapy and immunotherapy may serve as the first-choice treatment for scalp angiosarcoma. Tumor size and treatment regimens are main factors influencing prognosis of scalp angiosarcoma.