A Case Report of Post-Radiotherapy <b><i>c-MYC</i></b>-Positive Angiosarcoma of the Breast

Abstract

Angiosarcoma of the breast is an unusual malignancy and carries a poor prognosis, with a 5-year overall survival rate ranging from 27 to 48%. Radiotherapy-induced angiosarcoma (RIAS) of the breast is very uncommon, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 1,000 cases of breasts treated with radiotherapy for breast cancer. The increase in radiotherapy usage may lead to an increased incidence of RIAS. A case presentation of a 67-year-old patient with tubular adenocarcinoma of the left breast who developed c-MYC-positive RIAS of the breast is presented. The patient was successfully treated with surgery. We presented a classic case of c-MYC RIAS. c-MYC was reported to be positive in RIAS and other types of angiosarcomas. Clinical examination and early detection of RIAS breast angiosarcoma is vital to improving outcomes in these patients.

Radiation-associated breast angiosarcoma after strut-adjusted volume implant brachytherapy

“…Cross-sectional imaging may demonstrate enhancing skin nodules within the thickened, enhancing dermis consistent with dermally based disease [ 5 , 14 ]. Nodular dermal enhancement alone may be the only pertinent MRI finding with suspected presence of neoplasia confirmed after surgical excision [ 17 ]. Multicentric disease with relatively large tumors is also commonly encountered and can be further characterized with cross-sectional imaging [ 5 ].…”

“…The benefit of mastectomy over conservative breast surgical management has been questioned, as a lack of statistically significant comparative prognostic benefit has been shown [ 1 ]. Nevertheless, surgical management with the goal of resecting the entire irradiated field with wide margins has been advocated [ 10 , 14 , 17 , 29 ]. High incidences of recurrence after radical mastectomy have been reported with short post-mastectomy latency periods ranging from 1 to 5 months [ 4 ].…”