Published online May 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i19.6088
Peer-review started: December 9, 2014
First decision: December 26, 2014
Revised: January 26, 2015
Accepted: February 11, 2015
Article in press: February 11, 2015
Published online: May 21, 2015
Processing time: 162 Days and 19.3 Hours
Primary hepatic angiosarcoma (PHA) is a rare malignancy that carries a poor prognosis. Of 1500 patients who underwent hepatectomy for primary hepatic tumors between 1994 and 2013 at our center, two patients were pathologically diagnosed with PHA. Clinical characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes of the two patients were collected and analyzed. Both patients underwent hepatectomy and had a postoperative survival time of 8 and 16 mo, respectively. A search of PubMed yielded eight references reporting 35 cases of PHA published between 2004 and 2013. On the basis of the presented cases and review of the literature, we endorse complete surgical resection as the mainstay definitive treatment of PHA, with adjuvant postoperative chemotherapy potentially improving survival. Palliative chemotherapy is an option in advanced hepatic angiosarcoma.
Core tip: Primary hepatic angiosarcoma (PHA) is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis. Two cases of PHA undergoing surgical resection at our center are presented in this paper. A literature review including 35 cases of PHA is discussed. Preliminary experience suggests that complete surgical resection is the definitive treatment for PHA and adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery might improve survival.