OCCURRENCE OF AN ANGIOSARCOMA OF THE LEG FOLLOWING RADIOTHERAPY OF A CERVICAL-CARCINOMA

A 74-year-old woman with a 27-year history of cervical carcinoma and r adiation therapy presented with an exophytic erosive nodule on the upp er part of the right thigh. The histological examination showed an asy mmetric, poorly circumscribed neoplasm of pleomorphic spindle cells an d epithelial cells. The immunohistochemical analysis revealed the expr ession vimentin factor VIII-related antigen, the antigen of the endoth elial marker BMA-120 and the human progenitor cell antigen (CD34). Thi s profile of expression confirmed the endothelial differentiation of t he neoplastic cells ana the diagnosis of an angiosarcoma. The patient wets treated by surgical excision of the tumor followed by postoperati ve radiotherapy as proposed by the literature. The development of the anagiosarcoma as a possible late complication after radiotherapy of th e cervical carcinoma is discussed.