Bilateral pneumothorax as a presenting feature of metastatic angiosarcoma of the scalp

Abstract

Lawton et al (1990) observe that metastatic angiosarcoma is a rare condition and is associated with extremely poor survival following the development of lung complications. They also state that, although radical doses of radiotherapy (44–60 Gy over 4–6 weeks, respectively, 4 fractions per week) have been followed by long term control of local disease, this may not necessarily correlate with improved survival. A further case, identified by retrospective review of patients' records of the Skin Unit of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (PMCI) in Melbourne, is described here to report the response to hypofractionated treatment.