Late recurrent cutaneous breast angiosarcoma in an elderly woman: a case report

Breast angiosarcomas are malignant tumours of the vascular endothelium that arise frequently following radiation therapy. Their clinical and radiological aspects are highly heterogeneous. The current study reports an unusual case, never previously reported, of a late recurrent breast angiosarcoma occurring in an 83-year old female patient 11 years after a breast-conserving surgery followed by radiation therapy for an invasive ductal carcinoma, and 5 years after her initial angiosarcoma excision. The first physician to examine the patient noted a palpable mass near the scar and, following ultrasonography, described the breast lesion as suggestive of an abscess, despite the previous history of neoplasia. Typically, recurrences of breast angiosarcoma occur within the first postsurgical year. The present patient remains alive at 25 months after her last surgical treatment, and no evidence of any local or distant disease is observable.