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Radiotherapy for Cutaneous Angiosarcoma

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Radiation Therapy for Skin Cancer

Abstract

Cutaneous angiosarcoma (AS) is a rare, aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis. It usually arises on the scalp or face and is locally advanced at presentation. Patients are most often white, male, and elderly. A subset of patients present with multifocal disease and/or positive regional nodes. Another group of patients who may present with AS are patients treated with a partial mastectomy and radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer. Although the optimal treatment is surgery followed by wide-field RT, the disease is sometimes so extensive at diagnosis that it is not completely resectable. Even after optimal local-regional treatment, there is a relatively high likelihood of a local recurrence at the margins of the RT fields. The probability of hematogenous dissemination is relatively high. Limited data suggest that chemotherapy may be useful for palliation with progression-free survival rates ranging from 1 to 5 months. Depending on primary site, the 5-year local-regional control rates are approximately 40–50 %, the 5-year distant metastasis-free survival rates range from 20 to 40 %, and the 5-year survival rates range from 10 to 30 %. AS arising on the scalp has the worst prognosis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 2000 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    William M. Mendenhall

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, University of Florida, 2015 North Jefferson Street, Jacksonville, FL, 32206, USA

    Nancy P. Mendenhall

Authors
  1. William M. Mendenhall
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  2. Nancy P. Mendenhall
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Correspondence to William M. Mendenhall .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida State University College of Medi, Division of Dermatology, Dermatology Associates of Tallahassee, Riggins Road 1707, Tallahassee, 32308, Florida, USA

    Armand B. Cognetta Jr.

  2. College of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, 2000 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, 32610, Florida, USA

    William M. Mendenhall

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Mendenhall, W.M., Mendenhall, N.P. (2013). Radiotherapy for Cutaneous Angiosarcoma. In: Cognetta Jr., A., Mendenhall, W. (eds) Radiation Therapy for Skin Cancer. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6986-5_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6986-5_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6985-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6986-5

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