[Chemotherapy for the treatment of angiosarcoma]

A common type of angiosarcoma in the dermatological field is Wilson-Jones type angiosarcoma arising on the head and neck of elderly. It is called malignant hemangioendothelioma (MHE) and its prognosis is extremely poor, even though treated with the present state of the art: surgical excision, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Recently, chemotherapy has been done with CYVADIC (CPM, VCR, ADM, DTIC), and in some cases intraarterial fusion of ADM and 5-FU has been tried in combination therapy. But older patients are particularly intolerant of this chemotherapy, because of its severe toxic effects. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that these chemotherapeutic trials have helped to improve the prognosis.