Angiosarcoma of the breast: a report of two cases and a review of the literature.

Angiosarcoma of the breast, a rare tumor with very poor prognosis and insidious early manifestations, frequently is far advanced when first detected clinically. The clinical and pathologic changes in two women with primary, unilateral angiosarcoma of the breast are reviewed and the results are compared with 46 cases already published in the literature. Both patients were middle aged with symptoms for approximately 6 months prior to operation. Both frozen section reports were benign and only called malignant on permanent section. Microscopically the tumors were composed of varying sized, tortuous, elongated vascular channels. The operation varied--a modified radical and a simple mastectomy--and both patients are free from disease 4 and 2 years following operation. It is considered that, in view of the proclivity of this tumor for hematogenous metastases, an axillary dissection may not be justified.