CUTANEOUS SARCOMA – FROM DIAGNOSIS TO TREATMENT

Abstract

The clinical diagnosis of cutaneous sarcomas is not an easy task, mainly due to their complex and hetero- geneous nature. Differential diagnosis may be difficult because there is substantial overlap of clinical features between a sarcoma that develop in superficial tissues (skin and subcutaneous tissue) and benign neoplasm and inflammatory dermatoses. Although not frequent, some types of cutaneous sarcomas have great importance, as they can be associa- ted with recurrence, aggressive local growth or metastasis, and can present high morbi-mortality rates.

The authors report five clinical-pathological cases of cutaneous sarcomas – Kaposi’s sarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, atypical fibroxanthoma, leiomyosarcoma and angiosarcoma. A review of the relevant literature about cutaneous sarcomas with particular interest to dermatologists is presented, and we highlight some important clinical, laboratorial, histological and therapeutic findings.

KEYWORDS – Skin neoplasms; Sarcoma; Sarcoma, Kaposi; Dermatofibrosarcoma; Histiocytoma, benign fibrous; Leio- myosarcoma; Hemangiosarcomal liposarcoma; Nerve sheath neoplasms.