Propranolol and Weekly Paclitaxel in the Treatment of Metastatic Heart Angiosarcoma.

Abstract

Heart angiosarcoma, the most frequent among cardiac malignancies, is an extremely rare vascular tumor known to carry a dismal prognosis. The spectrum of presenting symptoms depends on tumor's size, its anatomic location, and its invasiveness, whereas imaging techniques including cardiac magnetic resonance are critical in the differential diagnosis between malignant and benign neoplasms. Despite there are various available systemic therapeutic regimens for advanced cardiac angiosarcomas, yet, it still remains unclear which of them offers the best survival outcome in general. We present the uncommon case of metastatic right atrium angiosarcoma in a young male patient, in which the combination of propranolol and weekly paclitaxel, as first-line treatment, showed promising activity with manageable toxicity. Given the existing strong rationale for repurposing propranolol in oncology, this therapeutic approach merits further investigation in prospective studies with heart angiosarcoma patients.

• Authors: Oraianthi Fiste, Apostolos Dimos, Vasiliki-Elpida Kardara, Konstantinos Ballasis, Athanasios Karampeazis
• Journal: Cureus (Cureus) Vol. 12 Issue 12 Pg. e12262 (Dec 24 2020) ISSN: 2168-8184 [Print] United States
• PMID: 33520481 (Publication Type: Case Reports)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020, Fiste et al.