Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep;13(3):378-385.
doi: 10.1007/s12105-018-0978-3. Epub 2018 Oct 24.

Characteristics and Prognosis of Primary Head and Neck Angiosarcomas: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) Analysis of 1250 Cases

Kevin C Lee  1 , Sung-Kiang Chuang  2   3 , Elizabeth M Philipone  4 , Scott M Peters  5
Affiliations

Characteristics and Prognosis of Primary Head and Neck Angiosarcomas: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) Analysis of 1250 Cases

Kevin C Lee et al. Head Neck Pathol. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Head and neck angiosarcomas (HN-AS) are rare malignancies with a poor prognosis relative to other soft tissue sarcomas. To date, the HN-AS literature has been limited to short reports and single-institution experiences. This study evaluated patients registered with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program who had been diagnosed with a primary HN-AS. Predictors were drawn from demographic and baseline tumor characteristics. Outcomes were survival months and cause of death. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to estimate overall (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) rates. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used for multivariate analyses. A total of 1250 patients (mean age 73.3 years) were identified, and nearly all lesions (93.5%) were cutaneous. Two- and 5-year OS rates were 47.3% (95% CI 44.3-50.3) and 26.5% (95% CI 23.7-29.3), while 2- and 5-year DSS rates were 66.6% (95% CI 63.6-69.6) and 48.3% (95% CI 44.5-52.1). In the univariate analyses, age, race, tumor grade, tumor size, AJCC stage, SEER historic stage, and surgery were significant predictors of both OS and DSS. Multivariate regression revealed that independent predictors of poor OS and DSS were older age [OS: HR 1.04 (95% CI 1.02-1.05), p < 0.01; DSS: HR 1.03 (95% CI 1.01-1.05), p < 0.01], increased tumor size [OS: HR 1.01 (95% CI 1.01-1.01), p < 0.01; DSS: HR 1.01 (95% CI 1.01-1.02), p < 0.01], and distant disease [OS: HR 2.97 (95% CI 1.65-5.34), p < 0.01; DSS: HR 4.99 (95% CI 2.50-9.98), p < 0.01]. Age, tumor size, and disease extent were determinants of HN-AS survival. When all other factors were controlled, lower histologic grade and surgery did not improve the risk of death.

Keywords: Angiosarcoma; Head and neck malignancy; Population data; Survival analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest declared by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier survival plots for patients with head and neck angiosarcomas showing a overall survival (OS) and b disease-specific survival (DSS)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Huang J, Mackillop WJ. Increased risk of soft tissue sarcoma after radiotherapy in women with breast carcinoma. Cancer. 2001;92(1):172–180. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(20010701)92:1<172::AID-CNCR1306>3.0.CO;2-K. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sharma A, Schwartz RA. Stewart-Treves syndrome: pathogenesis and management. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2012;67(6):1342–1348. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2012.04.028. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lee FI, Harry DS. Angiosarcoma of the liver in a vinyl-chloride worker. Lancet (London England) 1974;1(7870):1316–1318. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(74)90683-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wang L, Lao IW, Yu L, Wang J. Clinicopathological features and prognostic factors in angiosarcoma: a retrospective analysis of 200 patients from a single Chinese medical institute. Oncol Lett. 2017;14(5):5370–5378. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fujisawa Y, Yoshino K, Fujimura T, et al. Cutaneous angiosarcoma: the possibility of new treatment options especially for patients with large primary tumor. Front Oncol. 2018;8:46. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2018.00046. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms