[Stewart-Treves syndrome following mastectomy for breast cancer: a case report].

INTRODUCTION

Stewart-Treves syndrome has been defined by the eponymous authors as a lymphangiosarcoma in a setting of postmastectomy upper extremity lymphoedema.

EXEGESIS

The clinical record of one patient with Stewart-Treves syndrome is analyzed. The primary angiosarcoma of the skin represented by a purple nodule occurred on a chronic lymphoedematous arm following radical mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection for breast carcinoma performed 9 years earlier. Immunohistochemistry tests formally eliminated epithelial cutaneous metastasis and produced evidence in favour of conjunctive vascular tissue origin of the tumor.

CONCLUSION

Conservative surgery for breast cancer, application of axillary sentinel node biopsy in the lymphatic staging and prevention of arm lymphoedema should reduce the incidence of this syndrome.