Angiosarcoma of the breast

Primary angiosarcoma of the breast is an unusual neoplasm generally associated with a dismal prognosis. In order to determine if there is a relationship between the histological characteristics of angiosarcoma and the clinical behavior, we studied 15 such cases obtained from the Connecticut Tumor Registry between the years 1954 and 1980. Histologically the cases were classified in three types: well differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated. The results show that the histologic patterns of the tumors correlated closely with the prognosis. Four of the five patients with well-differentiated lesions have remained free of disease for as long as 24 years. Three of four patients with moderately differentiated lesions and three of the six patients with poorly differentiated tumors died of disease in intervals up to 4 years. We believe that careful histologic evaluation of these tumors may be of significance in the prognosis of the patients.