Primary thyroid angiosarcoma: an unusual localization.

The finding of thyroid nodules is a very common occurrence in routine clinical practice. Approximately 5% to 7% of the entire population have thyroid nodules. Vascular lesions are one of the most controversial issues in thyroid pathology. These include benign lesions such as hemangiomas and, rarely, malignant tumors such as angiosarcomas or undifferentiated angiosarcomatoid carcinomas. In particular, angiosarcoma of the thyroid gland is a rare, highly aggressive malignant vascular tumor and in Italy the greatest geographical incidence of this lesion is witnessed near the Alps. Here, a case of thyroid angiosarcoma in a 71-year-old man with a history of goiter for about 20 years is described. The unusual localization of this lesion, the difficulties in reaching a definitive diagnosis for this particular histological type of primary tumor and a history of long-standing multinodular goiter in thyroid of an older man from outside the Alpine region prompted us to report this case of thyroid angiosarcoma mainly to discuss surgical, histopathological and immunohistochemical features.

Multidisciplinary approach to breast angiosarcoma in an elderly patient: Repeated local relapses and significant objective responses.

Angiosarcomas are malignant tumors of endovascular origin, which may be divided into primary and secondary forms. Secondary breast angiosarcomas are an increasing problem, especially in patients treated with breast-conserving surgery followed by radiotherapy.We report a case of radiation-induced angiosarcoma of the breast in a 77-year-old woman who presented with a suspect lesion in her left breast. Excisional biopsy and subsequent immunohistochemical staining of the specimen was performed. Histological report was diagnostic for low-intermediate grade angiosarcoma. The tumor cells were diffusely positive for CD31 and CD34. We performed surgical resection with mastectomy.A multidisciplinary approach with bleomycin-based electrochemotherapy, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin has been most useful to control subsequent local relapses. To date, the patient is under close observation and is performing well. No recurrence has been demonstrated after ending of chemotherapy.