Two cases of secondary soft tissue sarcomas after radiotherapy and radiochemotherapy.
BACKGROUND
The development of secondary soft tissue sarcomas after chemo-radiotherapy is a rare and little known event, but its frequency is increasing.


METHODS
We report two cases of secondary soft tissue sarcomas. The first is the case of a 51-year-old woman treated for Hodgkin's disease with chemotherapy and radiotherapy 15 years before she developed a high-grade malignant pleural sarcoma. The patient had no history of asbestos exposure. The second is the case of a 64-year-old woman with a giant cell malignant histiocytoma secondary to colorectal cancer treated with surgery and radiotherapy nine years before. The patients were not eligible for surgery or radiotherapy. Both were treated with chemotherapy (ifosfamide and epirubicin) without any relevant secondary effects; however, the response to therapy was poor.


CONCLUSIONS
The causes of secondary malignancies are multifactorial, but radiation therapy and chemotherapy are certainly implicated in the development of post-therapy neoplasms that are difficult to treat.
Saggia
Chiara
C
Cure Palliative-Oncologia, Ospedale S Giovanni Battista, Gattinara, Italy. c.saggia@inwind.it
Forti
Giorgio
G
Biaggi
Gabriele
G
Lattuada
Sara
S
Santagostino
Alberto
A
Angeli
Giovanni
G
Pollo
Maria Cristina
MC
Negru
Maria Emanuela
ME
Alabiso
Oscar
O
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000009:adverse effects; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D005260:Female; D054747:Histiocytic Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000009:adverse effects; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*