Cytogenetic analysis of four angiosarcomas from deep and superficial soft tissue

Angiosarcomas are rare malignant vascular tumors, most commonly found in the skin or superficial soft tissue. We found clonal chromosome aberrations in four short-term cultured angiosarcomas. Two cases were diagnosed as epithelioid angiosarcomas, and one as postmastectomy angiosarcoma. Two of the tumors were deep-seated and two were superficial. Angiosarcomas from deep, soft tissue are extremely rare and have never been cytogenetically investigated before. The chromosome number ranged from hypodiploid to hypertriploid. When the results from the present study were combined with data on the four previously reported cytogenetically aberrant angiosarcomas, the most frequently rearranged chromosomes were 5, 7, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, and the Y chromosome. Recurrent changes, each found in three of these eight angiosarcomas, were gains of 5pter-p11, 8p12-qter, and 20pter-q12, losses of 7pter-p15 and 22q13-qter, and -Y in two of three men.