Adriamycin, cisplatin, ifosfamide and paclitaxel combination as front-line chemotherapy for locally advanced and metastatic angiosarcoma. Analysis of three case reports and review of the literature.
Angiosarcoma represents 1 to 2% of soft tissue tumors. It originates from endothelial cells of small blood vessels and may affect a variety of organs, including the retroperitoneum, skeletal muscle, subcutis, liver, heart and breast. The outcome of angiosarcoma is poor for those patients in whom aggressive surgery cannot be considered. Chemotherapy, generally consisting of the combination of anthracyclines and ifosfamide, has little, but consistent effect. We report three cases of angiosarcoma in which first-line chemotherapy with adriamycin 40 mg/m2 day 1, ifosfamide 3 g/m2 day 1-2, cisplatin 35 mg/m2 day 1-2 and paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 day 3 led to clinically meaningful responses. The clinical relevance of incorporating paclitaxel in conventional soft tissue chemotherapy schedules in the light of both literature data and our experience is discussed. We emphasize the need for designing trials specifically dedicated to angiosarcomas, as this rare and severe condition may be a target for new antiangiogenic drugs.
Asmane
Irène
I
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Litique
Valère
V
Heymann
Steve
S
Marcellin
Luc
L
Métivier
Anne-Cécile
AC
Duclos
Brigitte
B
Bergerat
Jean-Pierre
JP
Kurtz
Jean-Emmanuel
JE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007069:Ifosfamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
D004317:Doxorubicin; D017239:Paclitaxel; D002945:Cisplatin; D007069:Ifosfamide