Angiosarcoma of the oropharynx

Abstract

Angiosarcoma is a rare soft tissue malignancy that accounts for 2％ of soft tissue sarcomas. Most cases of angiosarcoma in the head and neck originate in the skin of the head; those originating in the oropharynx are extremely rare. We experienced a case of oropharyngeal angiosarcoma with multiple distant metastases from the first visit.
The prognosis for angiosarcoma is very poor. Especially for those with distant metastases, the median survival time was reported to be about 3 months, and there is no clear treatment policy with evidence.
In the present case, chemotherapy with paclitaxel resolved the oropharyngeal lesion. Although the distant lesion had also shrunk, a new distant lesion appeared and increased, so we changed the chemotherapy to pazopanib. Paclitaxel had a progression-free survival （PFS） of 6 months and an overall survival （OS） of 17 months. A case report is made, with a review of the literature.