Small-bowel angiosarcoma after pelvic irradiation: a report of two cases

Angiosarcoma is a rare tumor in the small bowel. Several predisposing facto rs have been suggest ed, including external irradiation for another maligna ncy. Only six cases of small-bowel angiosarcoma in patients previously trea ted with pelvic irradiation for gynecological malignancies have been report ed hitherto. We present here two patients in whom a diagnosis of small-bowe l angiosarcoma was made 10 years or more after intrapelvic irradiation. The se cases demonstrate poor prognosis in this disease. Although postirradiati on angiosarcoma is a rare condition, its possibility should be kept in mind when operating on previously irradiated patients.