Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas

Angiosarcoma (AS) showed diverse morphologies from well formed malignant vasculatures to poorly differentiated tumor with only a few clues of endothelial differentiation. Herein reported are two cases of AS without primitive vasoformative channels (VC). They showed, instead, a very few foci of intra...

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Main Author: Tadashi Terada, MD, PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016-03-01
Series:Human Pathology: Case Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214330014200721
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author Tadashi Terada, MD, PhD
author_facet Tadashi Terada, MD, PhD
author_sort Tadashi Terada, MD, PhD
collection DOAJ
description Angiosarcoma (AS) showed diverse morphologies from well formed malignant vasculatures to poorly differentiated tumor with only a few clues of endothelial differentiation. Herein reported are two cases of AS without primitive vasoformative channels (VC). They showed, instead, a very few foci of intracytoplasmic vacuoles (ICV) that mimicked liposarcoma. The two cases were found in 12 cases of AS in computer database. Both are men, 57 and 68 years. One is cutaneous (foot) AS and another is soft tissue (thigh) AS. The largest diameter of cutaneous AS was 5 cm, and that of soft tissue AS 9 cm. The prognosis of both patients was poor; both died of metastases 4 and 6 years after initial presentation. In both cases, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) diagnosis was difficult because there were no VC, and most of the tumors were composed of primitive mesenchymal tissues. In both cases, however, a few very tiny foci consisting of ICV were seen. At first, the author considered them as mucins or fat, and suspected liposarcoma. In fact, they were pseudolipoblasts. Several mucin stains showed no mucins, and fat stains of frozen sections of formalin fixed tissue were negative for fat. Immunohistochemically, the vacuoles were positive for factor VIII-related antigen (F-VIII-RA), Ulex lectin, CD31, CD34, vimentin, p53 and Ki-67 (labeling index = 64% and 75%), but negative for various types of cytokeratins (CK), EMA, CEA, CA19-9, CD45, smooth muscle actins, S100 protein, myoglobin, HMB-45, Melan A, NCAM, and NSE. F-VIII-RA is specific and Ulex lectin and CD31 are relatively specific for endothelium. Therefore, the pathological diagnosis of AS could be made by the combined histologic features (ICV) and Immunohistochemical positivity of F-VIII-RA, Ulex lectin, and CD31. Thus, it appeared that the ICV may be the only clue of poorly differentiated or undifferentiated AS. In such undifferentiated cases, combined observations of meticulous histologic observations (intracytoplasmic lumens and ICV) immunohistochemistry of F-VIII-RA, Ulex lectin, and CD31 may be helpful in the diagnosis of poorly differentiated and undifferentiated AS. Electron microscopic observations were not done in the present study.
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spelling doaj.art-95d45a42872347b69609393ed1b819dc2022-12-22T02:28:55ZengElsevierHuman Pathology: Case Reports2214-33002016-03-013C222610.1016/j.ehpc.2014.11.004Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomasTadashi Terada, MD, PhDAngiosarcoma (AS) showed diverse morphologies from well formed malignant vasculatures to poorly differentiated tumor with only a few clues of endothelial differentiation. Herein reported are two cases of AS without primitive vasoformative channels (VC). They showed, instead, a very few foci of intracytoplasmic vacuoles (ICV) that mimicked liposarcoma. The two cases were found in 12 cases of AS in computer database. Both are men, 57 and 68 years. One is cutaneous (foot) AS and another is soft tissue (thigh) AS. The largest diameter of cutaneous AS was 5 cm, and that of soft tissue AS 9 cm. The prognosis of both patients was poor; both died of metastases 4 and 6 years after initial presentation. In both cases, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) diagnosis was difficult because there were no VC, and most of the tumors were composed of primitive mesenchymal tissues. In both cases, however, a few very tiny foci consisting of ICV were seen. At first, the author considered them as mucins or fat, and suspected liposarcoma. In fact, they were pseudolipoblasts. Several mucin stains showed no mucins, and fat stains of frozen sections of formalin fixed tissue were negative for fat. Immunohistochemically, the vacuoles were positive for factor VIII-related antigen (F-VIII-RA), Ulex lectin, CD31, CD34, vimentin, p53 and Ki-67 (labeling index = 64% and 75%), but negative for various types of cytokeratins (CK), EMA, CEA, CA19-9, CD45, smooth muscle actins, S100 protein, myoglobin, HMB-45, Melan A, NCAM, and NSE. F-VIII-RA is specific and Ulex lectin and CD31 are relatively specific for endothelium. Therefore, the pathological diagnosis of AS could be made by the combined histologic features (ICV) and Immunohistochemical positivity of F-VIII-RA, Ulex lectin, and CD31. Thus, it appeared that the ICV may be the only clue of poorly differentiated or undifferentiated AS. In such undifferentiated cases, combined observations of meticulous histologic observations (intracytoplasmic lumens and ICV) immunohistochemistry of F-VIII-RA, Ulex lectin, and CD31 may be helpful in the diagnosis of poorly differentiated and undifferentiated AS. Electron microscopic observations were not done in the present study.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214330014200721AngiosarcomaIntracytoplasmic vacuolesFactor VIII-related antigenUlex lectinCD31
spellingShingle Tadashi Terada, MD, PhD
Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
Human Pathology: Case Reports
Angiosarcoma
Intracytoplasmic vacuoles
Factor VIII-related antigen
Ulex lectin
CD31
title Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
title_full Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
title_fullStr Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
title_full_unstemmed Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
title_short Poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
title_sort poorly differentiated angiosarcoma without vasoformative channels but with focal intracytoplastic vacuoles mimicking liposarcomas
topic Angiosarcoma
Intracytoplasmic vacuoles
Factor VIII-related antigen
Ulex lectin
CD31
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214330014200721
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