Paclitaxel-based chemotherapy for aggressive kaposiform hemangioendothelioma of the temporomastoid region: Case report and review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare vascular tumor of infancy and childhood. This tumor results in poor prognosis, and therefore, development of a more effective treatment is needed.


RESULTS
We describe an 11-year-old boy presenting with left facial palsy caused by aggressive KHE of the left temporomastoid region. He was treated with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy, because of the difficulty with complete surgical resection for anatomic factor, multiple lung metastases on diagnosis, and no response to conventional treatments. This treatment reduced the volume of primary tumor and lung metastatic lesions, but the efficacy was transitory.


CONCLUSIONS
Paclitaxel-based chemotherapy for aggressive KHE may be effective, therefore the multimodality therapy including paclitaxel of aggressive KHE, particularly in the head and neck, needs to be investigated in further studies.
Department of Pediatrics, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan. mfunato@me.com
Michinori
M
Funato
Toshiyuki
T
Fukao
Hideo
H
Sasai
Tomohiro
T
Hori
Daisuke
D
Terazawa
Kaori
K
Kanda
Michio
M
Ozeki
Keisuke
K
Mizuta
Yoshinobu
Y
Hirose
Hideo
H
Kaneko
Naomi
N
Kondo
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006390:Hemangioendothelioma / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D059885:Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy*
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D017239:Paclitaxel