Berretta M, Rupolo M, Buonadonna A, Canzonieri V, Brollo A, Morra A, Berretta S, Bearz A, Tirelli U, Frustaci S
Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, Italy.
J Chemother. 2006 Apr;18(2):221-4. doi: 10.1179/joc.2006.18.2.221.
Angiosarcomas are rare soft tissue malignancies. Typically they originate from the skin of the scalp or face, whereas visceral sarcomas are very rare. We report the case of a 67-year-old man affected by a large angiosarcoma of the kidney. After surgical removal, a rapid peritoneal, visceral and cutaneous diffusion developed. Palliative chemotherapy, based on anthracycline and ifosfamide, which are normally used to treat all other high-grade spindle cell sarcomas, was totally inactive. On the basis of these results and of the biological characteristics of these rare neoplasms it is mandatory to develop other therapeutic approaches. Antiangiogenetic agents are of interest for this disease due to the peculiar origin of the cells of these sarcomas.
