Surgery for Angiosarcoma and Other Cardiac Sarcomas: A single-institution Experience

Background: Cardiac sarcomas are rare malignancies with a poor prognosis. Although angiosarcoma is the most common histological subtype, its features are poorly characterized. This study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics of the various cardiac sarcomas and the surgical techniques used and to identify factors influencing the prognosis.

Methods: Forty patients who underwent surgery for cardiac sarcomas were included; 60% of them had angiosarcoma. Clinical characteristics, tumor location, surgical techniques used, and the prognosis were compared between patients with angiosarcoma and patients with other subtypes. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox regression were used to identify predictors of postoperative survival.

Results: Angiosarcomas were more likely than the other subtypes to present as pericardial effusion (85% vs 50%,  = .014). Early surgery was performed (median 24.0 days) regardless of histological subtype. The surgical technique varied according to histological subtype. Mean postoperative survival was 10 months. A positive margin ( = .13), high Ki-67 index ( = .19), younger age ( = .86), and angiosarcoma ( = .87) were identified to be potentially poor prognostic factors in univariate analyses. Cox regression identified R0 resection to be the only significant independent predictor of the prognosis after surgery (hazard ratio, 0.423,  = .039).

Conclusions: Angiosarcoma differs from other subtypes of cardiac sarcoma in terms of clinical symptoms, tumor location, surgical techniques used, and prognosis. Early surgery is needed regardless of subtype. R0 resection is the only independent predictor of postoperative survival, and complete resection is usually achievable. The prognosis may be poorer in patients with a positive margin, high Ki-67 index, younger age, and angiosarcoma.