Small-bowel angiosarcoma after pelvic irradiation: a report of two cases

Angiosarcoma is a rare tumor in the small bowel. Several predisposing factors have been suggested, including external irradiation for another malignancy. Only six cases of small-bowel angiosarcoma in patients previously treated with pelvic irradiation for gynecological malignancies have been reported hitherto. We present here two patients in whom a diagnosis of small-bowel angiosarcoma was made 10 years or more after intrapelvic irradiation. These cases demonstrate poor prognosis in this disease. Although postirradiation angiosarcoma is a rare condition, its possibility should be kept in mind when operating on previously irradiated patients.