Background: Whilst cutaneous angiosarcoma is rare tumour which primarily affects elderly patients, its management presents a significant therapeutic challenge. Indeed, complete surgical excision is often not possible due to the location and the diffuse and extensive nature of the tumour. Therefore, current treatment strategies often include chemo- and/or radiotherapy.
Methods: We report our experience of combined chemo- and radiotherapy in the clinical course of 6 patients with cutaneous angiosarcoma who were treated between 2007 and 2018.
Results: All patients presented non-resectable tumours and were treated with radiotherapy in combination with the administration of liposomal, pegylated doxrubicin (25 mg/m2 every 2 weeks). The mean duration of progression-free survival was 8 months (5-14 months), corresponding to an overall survival of 13 months (13-34 months). A partial response was seen in 4 patients and 1 patient developed progressive disease. One patient abandoned therapy after one administration. Two patients developed severe adverse events which led to termination of therapy after 1.5 months and 7 months, i.e. after 4 and 15 cycles respectively.
Discussion: Combined radio- and chemotherapy with liposomal, pegylated doxorubicin is a useful therapeutic option in the management of cutaneous angiosarcoma. Given the short-lived response rate, new treatment options are urgently required.
Keywords: Metastases; Metronomic chemotherapy; Palliative therapy; Response rate; Skin cancer.