[Stewart-Treves syndrome: post-mastectomy angiosarcoma].

A case is reported of angiosarcoma occuring in the chronic-lymphedematous right arm of a 56 year-old woman 9 years after radical mastectomy for cancer of the right breast. This is a characteristic example of Stewart-Treves syndrome (angiosarcoma in chronic lymphedema). The patient died within the year from multiple metastases. About 200 such cases are reported in the literature: the prognosis is bad, the best therapy reported being amputation of the extremity. Early diagnosis is essential through frequent checks for chronic lymphedema, which is seemingly the crucial etiologic factor in the occurrence of this angiosarcoma. Histogenesis has yet to be fully explained.