Stewart-Treves syndrome-treatment and outcome in six patients from a single centre.

摘要

AIMS: Stewart-Treves syndrome is an angiosarcoma associated with long-standing lymphoedema, most commonly seen as a rare complication of breast cancer treatment, and is associated with a poor outcome. We present results from six patients supporting the use of early radical surgery to improve prognosis. METHODS: Six patients with Stewart-Treves syndrome were diagnosed and treated at our centre over an 11-year period. Five patients had forequarter amputation and the sixth had a through-hip amputation. RESULTS: Four of the six patients are alive and well following surgery (at 3, 16, 23, and 135 months after amputation); one patient died from metastatic disease at 15 months and the second died due to an unrelated malignancy. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis and treatment by radical ablative surgery confers a reasonable prognosis with this rare but aggressive disease. A nihilistic approach is unjustified.