CHEMOTHERAPY FOR ANGIOSARCOMA OF THE BREAST - CASE-REPORT OF 30-YEAR SURVIVAL AND ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE

Angiosarcoma of the breast is a rare and highly malignant neoplasm wit h few longterm survivors. Little is known about the effects of chemoth erapy for patients with disseminated disease or its role in the adjuva nt setting. We report the case of a patient with metastatic angiosarco ma of the breast who achieved a long-term clinical and pathological re mission after treatment with methotrexate. The 30-year course of her d isease is the longest reported survival with documented metastatic ang iosarcoma of the breast. Analysis of the role of chemotherapy in the a djuvant setting and its effects in relation to histological subtype is undertaken. Adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with poorly differenti ated angiosarcoma of the breast results in a higher proportion of pati ents relapse-free (29.2%) compared to patients not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (4.4%) (p<0.05). Patients with well-differentiated tumors do not appear to derive benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. The effec ts for patients with disseminated disease are reported.