Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026
Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Gynecologic Cancer
Published on: April 17, 2012
Radiation-associated angiosarcoma after breast cancer: high recurrence rate and poor survival despite surgical
Jojanneke M Seinen1, Emelie Styring, Vincent Verstappen
1Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Groningen University Medical Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Background:
Secondary angiosarcoma of the breast is a rare but severe long-term complication of breast cancer treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy. We characterized a population-based cohort of patients with secondary angiosarcomas from two tertiary hospitals to investigate this complication with respect to surgical treatment and outcome.
Methods:
We identified 35 patients with a history of radiation for breast cancer that developed angiosarcoma in the irradiated field from 1990 to 2009. Of these, 31 underwent surgery and were included for analysis.
Results:
Angiosarcoma developed after median 7 years (range 3-25 years). R0 resection was obtained in 23 of 31 patients after primary treatment. Local recurrence developed in 19 patients after median 6 months (range 1-89 months). Regional and distant metastases occurred in 13 patients after median 17 months (range 2-50 months); nine which also had local recurrence. Patients whose local recurrence could be operated on had a better survival after treatment than those who were not considered for surgical treatment, median 34 months (range 6-84 months) compared with 6 months (range 5-24 months). The median disease-free survival and disease-specific survival was 16 and 37 months, respectively.
Conclusions:
Despite R0 resection, two-thirds of the patients developed a local recurrence. Survival among those with local recurrence was better if the patient could be treated with surgery. Overall, the prognosis was dismal and median DSS was just over 3 years.
