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Encyclopedia of Pathology pp 1–3Cite as

Angiosarcoma of the Breast

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

Definition

A tumor composed of malignant cells with endothelial differentiation.

Clinical Features

Incidence

Angiosarcoma (AS) of the breast is a rare disease accounting for about 1% of all soft tissue breast tumors.

It may present as primary AS, without previous history of mammary carcinoma or any associated factor, or as secondary AS, most commonly associated with previous breast irradiation.

Primary AS represents <0.05% of all primary breast cancers.

Secondary AS presents a median of 10.5 years after radiotherapy for breast cancer. In those patients undergoing breast conserving surgery with adjuvant radiotherapy, the estimated incidence of radiation-induced AS is 0.05–0.3%.

AS rarely occurs after mastectomy with axillary dissection without irradiation and during pregnancy.

Age

Primary AS more frequently affects young and middle-aged women (median age 30–55 ys).

Secondary AS presents in older women (median age 67–71 ys) after radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Sex

Rare cases of AS have...

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References and Further Reading

  • Bowman, E., Oprea, G., Okoli, J., Gundry, K., et al. (2012). Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) of the breast: A series of 24 patients. Breast Journal, 18(3), 242–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, D. R. (2009). Angiosarcoma, radiation-associated angiosarcoma, and atypical vascular lesion. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 133, 1804–1809.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mentzel, T., Schildhaus, H. U., Palmedo, G., Buttner, R., & Kutzner, H. (2012). Postradiation cutaneous angiosarcoma after treatment of breast carcinoma is characterized by MYC amplification in contrast to atypical vascular lesions after radiotherapy andcontrol cases: Clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular analysis of 66 cases. Modern Pathology, 25, 75–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nascimento, A. F., Raut, C. P., & Fletcher, C. (2008). Primary angiosarcoma of the breast, clinicopathologic analysis of 49 cases, suggesting that grade is not prognostic. The American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 32, 1896–1904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, P. P., Kimmel, M., & Ernsberger, D. (1988). Mammary angiosarcoma, the prognostic significance of tumor differentiation. Cancer, 62, 2145–2151.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Candiolo Cancer Instutute – FPO IRCCs, Candiolo, TO, Italy

    Alberto Pisacane

Authors
  1. Alberto Pisacane
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Correspondence to Alberto Pisacane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands

    J.H.J.M. van Krieken

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Pisacane, A. (2018). Angiosarcoma of the Breast. In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_4699-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_4699-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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