Clinical Impact of Systemic Staging Studies in Secondary Breast Angiosarcoma

Abstract

Background: Our goal was to evaluate the clinical impact of local and systemic imaging in secondary breast angiosarcoma (SBAS) at diagnosis (DX) and in follow-up (FU). Materials and Methods: Singe-center retrospective review of SBAS treated from 1/2007-7/2020. Clinicopathologic data was collected, including local and systemic imaging at DX and FU. The clinical impact of imaging was evaluated. Results: Twenty patients had SBAS diagnosed 10.6±6.7 years following their index BC. All were diagnosed on exam. Mammogram, ultrasound, and breast MRI were commonly performed concurrently with DX (2.4 studies per patient) but did not impact clinical management. In-breast imaging extent of disease did not correlate with pathologic extent of disease (p=0.49). Systemic staging uncommonly identified asymptomatic metastatic disease (5%). During FU, 90% of recurrences were identified by exam or new symptoms, not routine imaging. Conclusions: SBAS extent is not reliably estimated on targeted breast imaging. Asymptomatic metastatic disease is uncommon but targeted evaluation of new symptoms is warranted given high likelihood of identifying metastasis. Additional data is needed to define optimum imaging timing and modalities for SBAS.

Keywords

• Breast cancer
• Sarcoma
• Imaging
• Staging
• Clinical outcomes