Single institutional experience of radiation therapy for angiosarcoma of the scalp without cervical lymph node metastases: Impact of concurrent chemoradiation with maintenance chemotherapy using taxanes on patient prognosis

Hiroki Ihara; Tatsuya Kaji; Kuniaki Katsui; Tomoko Miyake; Takahiro Waki; Norihisa Katayama; Hidenobu Matsuzaki; Osamu Yamasaki; Masahiro Kuroda; Shin Morizane; Susumu Kanazawa

doi:10.3892/mco.2019.1918

Single institutional experience of radiation therapy for angiosarcoma of the scalp without cervical lymph node metastases: Impact of concurrent chemoradiation with maintenance chemotherapy using taxanes on patient prognosis

Mol Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov;11(5):498-504. doi: 10.3892/mco.2019.1918. Epub 2019 Sep 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Tsuyama Chuo Hospital, Okayama 708-0841, Japan.
² Department of Dermatology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
³ Department of Proton Beam Therapy, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
⁵ Department of Oral Diagnosis and Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
⁶ Department of Radiological Technology, Okayama University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.

Abstract

Cutaneous angiosarcoma is a rare aggressive malignant tumor. Concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) with maintenance chemotherapy using taxanes is one of the primary treatments. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively analyze the efficacy of CCRT with maintenance chemotherapy using taxanes in localized angiosarcoma of the scalp without cervical lymph node metastases. A total of 19 patients treated with radiation therapy for localized angiosarcomas of the scalp without cervical lymph node metastases were enrolled. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and local control (LC) rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Univariate analyses were performed for various potential prognostic factors for OS, PFS, and LC. The median radiation dose was 70 Gy (range, 60-70 Gy), and the fractional dose was 2 Gy. Radiation therapy alone, radiation therapy + interleukin-2, surgery + CCRT with maintenance chemotherapy, CCRT with maintenance chemotherapy, and CCRT without maintenance chemotherapy were administered to 2, 4, 2, 9 and 2 patients, respectively. The 1- and 3-year OS, PFS, and LC rates were 88 and 52%, 47 and 33%, and 74 and 56%, respectively. CCRT with maintenance chemotherapy and surgery were significant prognostic factors for PFS (P=0.036 and 0.025, respectively). Therefore, CCRT with maintenance chemotherapy using taxanes might be effective in treating localized angiosarcomas of the scalp without cervical lymph node metastases.

Keywords: angiosarcoma; concurrent chemoradiation with maintenance chemotherapy; prognosis; scalp; taxanes.