Giant primary angiosarcoma of an adolescent girl’s breast diagnosed postmortem: a case report

Abstract

Background: Angiosarcoma is an endothelial malignant tumor; angiosarcoma located in the breast is extremely rare, less than 0.01%. We report a case of a giant angiosarcoma diagnosed postmortem in a 16-year-old girl in a resource-constrained country. Case presentation: A 16-year-old black African girl was admitted for altered consciousness and a left breast tumor. She was admitted in a state of apparent death. Her death was confirmed on clinical examination. A postmortem biopsy of the mammary tumor showed standard histology of a proliferation of fusiform or rounded tumor cells in places, which were not very cohesive with marked anisokaryosis and numerous foci of tumor necrosis. Immunohistochemistry showed a positivity of CD31 and factor VIII markers with a proliferation index (Ki-67) estimated at 30%. Conclusion: Primary angiosarcoma of the breast is exceptional in adolescents and has a poor prognosis, especially in countries with limited resources.