Prognostic factors in angiosarcoma: a multivariate analysis of 55 cases

Primary Angiosarcoma of the Spleen: An Aggressive Neoplasm

Primary tumors of the spleen are rare, with an incidence rate of about 0.1%. These tumors could be benign, usually asymptomatic, or malignant which are usually symptomatic with abdominal pain being the most common symptom. Lymphoid neoplasms are the most common primary splenic tumors. Primary angiosarcoma is one of the extremely rare malignant vascular neoplasms of the spleen, which carries a dismal prognosis. It constitutes almost 7.4% of all primary malignant splenic neoplasms and is well known as an aggressive tumor with high local recurrence and distant metastasis rates. Overall survival is up to 12 months following diagnosis, regardless of management strategy. Due to the broad differential diagnosis of splenic tumors, this tumor is often forgotten, and is very challenging to diagnose early. Less than 300 cases of primary splenic angiosarcoma have been reported in the English literature. The main issue of this article is to review the current English literature to figure out the characteristic demographic features, clinical presentation, imaging findings and management of such tumors, in order to increase awareness of the treating physicians to improve diagnosis, management, as well as overall survival.

Primary splenic angiosarcoma with liver metastasis: A case report and literature review

Primary splenic angiosarcoma (PSA) is an unusual and highly malignant vascular tumour with a high rate of metastatic. Moreover, the research on prognosis of the disease is poor. The epidemiology, etiology, clinical diagnosis and treatment of the disease remain challenging, because case reports of the disease are few in number. In accordance with other malignant tumors, PSA is very aggressive, and the majority of patients in which this disease is found are at an advanced stage. Almost all patients die within 12 mo of diagnosis irrespective of treatment. We report here a woman who had complained of upper bellyache and anorexia for 10 d. Magnetic resonance imaging showed enlargement of the spleen with multiple heterogeneous masses in the lower pole of the spleen. A hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy was performed which allowed histopathologic diagnosis. The patient was diagnosed with PSA and liver metastasis, and succumbed to the disease 35 d after surgery. The literature was finished combined with the clinical features, diagnosis and management of PSA.