Two cases of secondary soft tissue sarcomas after radiotherapy and radiochemotherapy.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The development of secondary soft tissue sarcomas after chemo-radiotherapy is a rare and little known event, but its frequency is increasing.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

We report two cases of secondary soft tissue sarcomas. The first is the case of a 51-year-old woman treated for Hodgkin's disease with chemotherapy and radiotherapy 15 years before she developed a high-grade malignant pleural sarcoma. The patient had no history of asbestos exposure. The second is the case of a 64-year-old woman with a giant cell malignant histiocytoma secondary to colorectal cancer treated with surgery and radiotherapy nine years before. The patients were not eligible for surgery or radiotherapy. Both were treated with chemotherapy (ifosfamide and epirubicin) without any relevant secondary effects; however, the response to therapy was poor.

CONCLUSIONS:

The causes of secondary malignancies are multifactorial, but radiation therapy and chemotherapy are certainly implicated in the development of post-therapy neoplasms that are difficult to treat.

• Authors: Chiara Saggia, Giorgio Forti, Gabriele Biaggi, Sara Lattuada, Alberto Santagostino, Giovanni Angeli, Maria Cristina Pollo, Maria Emanuela Negru, Oscar Alabiso
• Journal: Tumori (Tumori) 2004 Nov-Dec Vol. 90 Issue 6 Pg. 622-4 ISSN: 0300-8916 [Print] United States
• PMID: 15762368 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (therapeutic use)
• Chemotherapy, Adjuvant (adverse effects)
• Colorectal Neoplasms (drug therapy, radiotherapy)
• Female
• Histiocytic Sarcoma (drug therapy, etiology)
• Hodgkin Disease (drug therapy, radiotherapy)
• Humans
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced (drug therapy, etiology)
• Neoplasms, Second Primary (drug therapy, etiology)
• Pleural Neoplasms (drug therapy, etiology)
• Radiotherapy, Adjuvant (adverse effects)
• Sarcoma (drug therapy, etiology)