Primary sarcoma of the liver and transplantation: a case study and literature review

Abstract

Primary sarcomas of the liver are rare tumors and their diagnosis is difficult to assess, particularly on percutaneous liver biopsy. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is an infrequent indication for liver transplantation, and angiosarcoma (AS) is a widely recognized contraindication because of its poor prognosis. We report the case of a young woman who underwent liver transplantation (LT) for an infiltrative hepatic tumor with several features suggestive of EHE, although the analysis of the native liver revealed AS. Everolimus was used as the main immunosuppressive drug. More than two years after LT, her physical condition remained stable despite a local recurrence at 10 months. In this setting, the ranking of new immunosuppressive agents belonging to the family of the proliferation signal inhibitors will need to be precise, but their intrinsic properties suggest a potential use in treatments after LT for atypical malignancies.

Keywords

• Angiosarcoma
• Epitheiloid hemangioendothelioma
• Liver transplantation