Case report of an angiosarcoma of the abdominal wall during liraglutide injections: A coincidence?

Abstract

Angiosarcoma is a very rare but highly aggressive malignant vascular tumor. Sporadic cases that develop in the abdominal wall are almost exclusively observed in obese patients. The underlying causes remain unclear. Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptid-1 agonist receptor treatment, effective for weight management and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, is not known to be associated with the occurrence of angiosarcoma. A 62-year-old woman developed a very aggressive, rapidly recurrent angiosarcoma of the abdominal wall. The angiosarcoma developed while she was taking liraglutide injections. The patient died within few months. Angiosarcoma, particularly of the abdominal wall, is very rare, and occurs mainly in obese patients. This cancer had a highly aggressive behavior. The association with liraglutide and angiosarcoma cannot be established nor eliminated from this case and literature review. Angiosarcoma is a rare and highly aggressive cancer that occasionally originates in the abdominal wall. In this case, in addition to the underlying obesity, a possible association of her liraglutide subcutaneous injections cannot be excluded. In the future, if other cases of abdominal walls angiosarcomas associated with liraglutide subcutaneous injections were to be reported, a possible causality should be further investigated. • Angiosarcoma is a very rare but highly aggressive malignant vascular tumor. • Abdominal wall is a very rare site for angiosarcoma and occurs almost exclusively in obese patients. • Liraglutide injection is explored for a possible association with the occurrence of angiosarcoma of the abdominal wall.