Doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and cisplatin based chemotherapy for the treatment of angiosarcoma: Two case reports

Angiosarcoma is a rare soft tissue malignancy of endothelial cells, generally associated with a poor prognosis. Due to its rarity, randomized trials are difficult to conduct and a consensus on the treatment of angiosarcoma has not been reached. The role, efficacy, and timing of chemotherapy in AS treatment remain uncertain, and as stated, no large-scale trials have been able to establish definitive recommendations.

Here we describe the successful use of chemotherapy followed by radiation for a case of lower extremity angiosarcoma, and a case of breast angiosarcoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgical resection. Systemic therapy consisted of weekly doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and cisplatin. This regimen resulted in a full clinical remission in the first patient and a pathologic complete response in the second.

These cases suggest that the use of the doxorubicin, cisplatin and paclitaxel combination could be an effective alternative to radical surgical excision in extremity sarcomas, and an effective adjuvant treatment to mastectomy in cutaneous radiation-associated angiosarcoma of the breast due to their independent efficacy against angiosarcoma. A randomized trial utilizing neoadjuvant combined doxorubicin, paclitaxel and cisplatin followed by either surgery or radiation, with endpoints assessing pathologic and overall response as well as progression free survival is warranted based on these cases.

The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of angiosarcoma should be reconsidered considering its ability to provide important prognostic information and improve the likelihood of curative surgery.