Cutaneous angiosarcoma of the scalp: A case report of sustained complete response following liposomal doxorubicin and radiation therapy

Abstract

Cutaneous angiosarcomas of the head and neck are aggressive cancers with a mean overall survival of 30 months. We add to the literature a case report of a 65-year-old man with a large, > 10cm, unresectable, angiosarcoma of the scalp who was treated with two cycles of liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx®) followed by electron beam radiation therapy (30 Gy in 10 fractions over 2 weeks) who has sustained a complete response with a 4-year follow-up. The dose and fractionation of the radiation therapy in this case was palliative and was not expected to give lasting local control of this lesion. It is therefore possible that either the genetic profile of the tumour conferred radiosensitivity or that the radiation therapy induced a recall phenomenon of the liposomal doxorubicin. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.