Successful treatment of angiosarcoma of the scalp by intralesional cytokine therapy and surface irradiation*

Abstract

An 88-year-old woman presented to us with angiosarcoma of the scalp that had developed over a 6-month period following previous trauma. Despite explicit information concerning the extremely malignant potential of the tumour the patient refused any surgical intervention. However, she agreed to receive local, intralesional interferon alpha-2b and interleukin-2 therapy. After partial remission of the tumour, the intralesional cytokine injections were combined with surface radiotherapy. This combination therapy led to a 2-year remission of both the tumour and sonographically suspicious cervical lymph nodes. Apart from the typical, moderate side-effects of interferon alpha-2b and interleukin-2 the therapy was well tolerated. In conclusion, in our limited experience intralesional cytokine therapy--alone as well as in combination with surface irradiation--seems to be an alternative therapeutic option for patients who is not a candidate for surgery.