title: Comparison between taxane-based chemotherapy with conventional surgery-based therapy for cutaneous angiosarcoma: a single-center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To show the efficacy of taxane-based chemotherapy for the treatment of cutaneous angiosarcoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study comparing patients who received taxanes without wide local excision (group A, n = 5) and patients who received conventional surgery-based therapy (group B, n = 8) in one university hospital in eastern Japan. Data were collected from a total of 13 patients with cutaneous angiosarcoma treated from November 1997 through July 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Group A received taxanes: four patients received docetaxel, and one patient received paclitaxel. Radiation was used concomitantly in two patients. Marginal local excision was performed in two patients. Group B received wide local excision followed by radiation (six patients), docetaxel (three patients), and interleukin-2 (two patients). No patients in group A had local recurrence, whereas five out of the eight patients in group B did (p < 0.05, chi-square test). Median overall survival was 31 months in group A and 10 months in group B. Estimated overall survival using the Kaplan-Meier method was significantly longer in group A (p < 0.05, log-rank test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our series, taxane-based chemotherapy was superior to conventional surgery-based therapy. Our results indicated that taxane regimens without mutilating surgery offered both local control and prevention of metastasis, which led to prolonged survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Tsukuba , 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba , Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawachi
authors.forename: Fujio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Otsuka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001952:Bridged-Ring Compounds; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001952:Bridged-Ring Compounds; D007376:Interleukin-2; D043823:Taxoids; C080625:taxane