Angiosarcoma of the scalp

CD31, a platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule, may be used and is a more accurate antigen for endothelial differentiation.2 Of note, S-100 and epithelial membrane antigen are usually not expressed helping to differentiate melanoma and carcinoma, respectively. Chemotherapy has been used as an adjunct to radiotherapy with doxorubicin and ifosfamide being the most common agents used, but also includes paclitaxel, interferon α-2b, and cyclophosphamide.4 Although doxorubicin has been the main agent used for angiosarcomas and shows a generally desired response, paclitaxel has been shown to have a particular advantage with patients having angiosarcoma of the scalp with patients generally tolerating the side effects well.4 In a Phase II trial study of nine patients with angiosarcoma of the head and neck, Fata et al. showed that eight of the nine patients had major responses ranging from 2 to 13 months (median, 5 months) with patients tolerating most side effects well when receiving either weekly or constant infusion paclitaxel.4 In summary, EAS represents a rare and aggressive tumor that presents mostly in elderly patients in the head and neck 50 per cent of the time.