[Unusual course of hemangiopericytoma]

Hemangiopericytomas, rare perivascular tumors, normally tend to be well circumscribed, however, since some have a malignant behavior they are recognized to be potentially malignant.

In the case presented here, we report the medical history of a 46-year-old man with a hemangiopericytoma of the nose. In 1983, the tumor was surgically removed, and histological examination revealed no signs of malignancy. In 1987, a local recurrence was removed followed by X-irradiation. In March 1995, the patient presented with multiple hepatic and bone metastases. Chemotherapy with ifosfamide (5 g/m2, day 1) and epirubicin (50 mg/m2, day 1) was performed. After three courses of chemotherapy a tumor stabilization was achieved. In November 1995, however, a massive progression of the hepatic lesions was found. Therefore, six courses of a second-line chemotherapy with dacarbazine (200 mg/m2, day 1 to 5) and adriamycin (60 mg/m2, day 1) were applied. A partial remission was achieved lasting until November 1996. A couple of weeks later the patient died due to hepatic failure.

Despite of unacceptably low survival rates in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas (especially after pretreatment with ionizing radiation) our report demonstrates that it is also possible to induce long lasting remissions without altered quality of life.