Abstract
We analyzed 18 patients with angiosarcoma treated at Okayama University Hospital in the past 15 years. The first 4 cases received a surgical excision as an initial treatment for the primary tumour, but some of these cases experienced local or distant recurrence possibly related to the wound healing process after surgical treatment. Other cases received radiotherapy as a key treatment thereafter. Most cases underwent systemic therapy such as administration of IL-2 or, recently, taxane in combination with topical therapy. Four cases treated with radiotherapy for primary lesions survived more than 3 years, but none with surgical treatments. Patients with long-term survival seemed to have better response to radiotherapy. However, we could not conclude the superiority of radiotherapy because of the paucity of cases with the disease. A prospective, multi-institutional, comparative clinical study to determine the adequate treatment would be needed. In addition, PET/CT was effective for the detection of metastatic lesions.[Skin Cancer (Japan) 2009 ; 24 : 369-376]
