Successful treatment of angiosarcoma of the scalp by intralesional cytokine therapy and surface irradiation

An 88-year-old woman presented to us with angiosarcoma of the scalp that ha d developed over a 6-month period following previous trauma. Despite explic it information concerning the extremely malignant potential of the tumour t he patient refused any surgical intervention. However, she agreed to receiv e local, intralesional interferon alpha -2b and interleukin-2 therapy. Afte r partial remission of the tumour, the intralesional cytokine injections we re combined with surface radiotherapy. This combination therapy led to a 2- year remission of both the tumour and sonographically suspicious cervical l ymph nodes. Apart from the typical, moderate side-effects of interferon (al pha -2b and interleukin-2 the therapy was well tolerated. In conclusion, in our limited experience intralesional cytokine therapy - alone as well as i n combination with surface irradiation - seems to be an alternative therape utic option for patients who is not a candidate for surgery.