Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: 15 years at the National Cancer Institute. Literature review

INTRODUCTION: Hemangioendotheliomas are locally aggressive vascular tumors with intermediate malignity and metastasis risk. The epithelioid variant, the most aggressive one, equally affects men and women at any age and it is rare in children. It occurs as a solitary tumor, which is usually painful, affecting superficial or deep soft tissues. Furthermore, it is less frequent in the liver, lung, bones, skin, lymph nodes and central nervous system. Microscopically, they present epithelioid cells with intracytoplasmic vacuoles, low mitotic activity and little or no necrosis. Additionally, its vascular nature is confirmed by immunohistochemical studies (CD31, CD34 and factor VIII). OBJECTIVE, MATERIAL AND METHODS: Through search in the archives of the Pathology Division of the National Cancer Institute (Instituto Nacional de Câncer [INCA]) from 1996 to 2011, 13 cases of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEE) were identified and analyzed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: seven cases occurred in male patients and six in female patients, mean age 42 years, ranging from 7-66. The most common locations were: soft tissue (three patients; 23%); head and neck, mediastinum, bone and lung (two patients each; 15%); liver and lymph nodes (one patient each; 8%). There was clinical follow-up of nine patients: five were alive and disease-free (one to six years after diagnosis); three out of four patients with aggressive disease progressed to death (one month to five years after diagnosis); one relapsed two years after diagnosis and is alive with disease. CONCLUSION: This series of 13 cases of HEE, whose diagnoses were based on morphological and/or immunohistochemical analyses, demonstrates the different patterns of clinical presentation and biologic behavior of this disease.