Original article
Primary renal angiosarcoma: A rare malignancy. A case report and review of the literature

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2005.10.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Angiosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor occurring in less than 2% of soft tissue sarcomas. Angiosarcoma involving the kidney usually represents metastasis from skin or visceral primary lesions, while angiosarcoma primarily occurring in the kidney is a very rare neoplasm. In the English literature, from 1942 to the present, only 19 cases of primary kidney angiosarcoma have been reported. A case of primary renal angiosarcoma presenting as a large kidney mass and flank pain occurring after traumatism is reported. The present case represents further evidence of a rare malignancy.

Introduction

Angiosarcoma is a rare high-grade malignant tumor that accounts for less than 2% of soft tissue sarcomas [1]; it occurs most frequently during the sixth and seventh decades of life, and with a male prediction [2]. Approximately one third of angiosarcomas occurs in skin, one third in soft tissue, and the remaining one third in other sites such as breast, liver, and bone [3]. Angiosarcoma involving the kidney usually represents metastasis from skin or visceral primary lesions, while angiosarcoma primarily occurring in the kidney is a very rare neoplasm [4]. In the English literature since 1942, only 19 cases of primary kidney angiosarcoma have been reported. Here, we report a case of primary renal angiosarcoma presenting as a large kidney mass and flank pain occurring after traumatism.

Section snippets

Case report

A 60-year-old Caucasian man was admitted to the Emergency Department of our hospital in June 2004 for symptomatology occurring after traumatism, and characterized by abdominal pain, especially in the epigastrium, left hypochondrium, and left iliac fossa. Abdominal physical examination revealed a left tumefaction in the hypochondrium and iliac fossa; the remaining physical examination was normal. History taking was positive for glaucoma, hepatic steatosis, hyperlipemia, and a recent

Discussion

The present case updates the limited current literature (Table 1) on primary renal angiosarcoma, a very rare malignancy. The kidney represents an extremely rare originating site for angiosarcoma, and the 19 primary renal angiosarcomas reported in the English literature from 1942 to 2005 are all described as case reports [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21] (Table 1). We excluded cases reported before Prince in 1942 [5], and also

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the patient’s family for making this publication possible.

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     This work was supported by grants from the “Associazione Ricerca in Medicina,” Bologna-Rome, Italy.

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