Angiosarcoma of the face and scalp in the elderly: an analysis of seven cases / 中华皮肤科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To assess clinical features and treatment of angiosarcoma.Methods A retrospective study was carried out among seven patients hospitalized for angiosarcoma in the Department of Plastic Surgery,Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University from January 2004 to March 2012.Clinical behaviors,therapeutic strategies and outcomes of angiosarcoma were analyzed in these patients.Results Of the seven patients,four were male,and three were female,with a median age of 67 years (range,37-77 years).Clinical presentations were various,including irregular ulcerous nodular masses in four patients,localized ulcer in one patient,and irregular erythematous nodules in two patients.All the patients were treated surgically with or without postoperative adjuvant therapy.Pathological examination revealed various degrees of differentiation and atypia of tumor cells,as well as obvious proliferation of endothelial cells,and all of these patients were diagnosed as angiosarcoma.Immunohistochemical analysis revealed a positive staining for CD31 and CD34.After surgical treatment,angiosarcoma recurred in four patients with the median time to the first recurrence being 3.5 months (range,1-6 months),cerebral metastasis occurred in one patient 5 months later,and two patients died.Conclusions Angiosarcoma is a rare and heterogeneous sarcoma with diverse clinical presentations.Local wide resection is the cornerstone of angiosarcoma treatment,and adjuvant therapy may improve its prognosis.