Colonic angiosarcoma: A case report and review of literature

INTRODUCTION: Angiosarcomas are rare tumours that arise from the vascular endothelium. They can occur anywhere in the body, mostly affecting the head and neck. Their occurrence in the gastrointestinal tract is quite rare with a few reported cases in medical literature. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 40-year-old man presented with metastatic sigmoid colon angiosarcoma, for which he was operated due to endoscopically uncontrollable massive tumour bleeding. The patient is presently still alive at 24 months after his first presentation. He is receiving palliative care. DISCUSSION: This article presents a review of the literature on this rare clinical entity, emphasising the very aggressive behaviour and the poor outcome of this malignancy. We present, briefly, 17 reported cases on primary colonic angiosarcoma since 1949. CONCLUSION: The role of chemotherapy and radiation is established neither in the adjuvant setting nor in metastatic disease. Surgery is the mainstay to treat localised colorectal angiosarcomas. (C) 2012 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd.