Angiosarcoma of the chest wall

Angiosarcoma is a rare but highly malignant disease. This report presents a 22-year-old male who has survived a primary angiosarcoma arising from the chest wall. The patient had been complaining of anterior chest pain for 3 years. CT and MRI revealed a tumor protruding into the right thoracic cavity from the anterior chest wall but no further findings. First, the tumor was resected using video-assisted thoracoscopy. The pathological diagnosis established from a frozen section was of a benign mesothelioma, but this was changed to angiosarsoma based on findings from a paraffin-embedded specimen. As a consequence, the third rib and intercostal muscles were resected in a second operation. Three years following surgery there was no evidence of tumor recurrence or metastasis. This case supports a suggestion that not all patients with angiosarcomas experience the same level of malignancy.