Angiosarcoma prognosis can be very poor as this cancer is aggressive, difficult to treat and frequently recurs. Often there is a delay in diagnosis because symptoms may not be specific enough or appear late in the disease. The earlier the angiosarcoma is diagnosed and the faster the treatment is begun the better the prognosis.

 

Factors Affecting the Prognosis

 

Factors that affect prognosis include:

• Tumor size
  
• Treatment
  
• Site of primary cancer
  
• Extent the cancer has spread.

 

The size of the tumor can affect the angiosarcoma prognosis, as it is easier to get a clearer margin around a smaller tumor. It is difficult to get a completely clear or negative margin at the microscopic level as this tumor can have numerous and irregular vascular channels not easily detected at the cellular level. This is why there is often a need for recurrent surgical resection.  Surgical resection combined with radiotherapy may offer a person a better prognosis if it can be done aggressively at an early stage of tumor development. However if the cancer has spread to several other sites, the prognosis is often poor.

Types of Angiosarcoma

 

Cutaneous angiosarcoma is the most common kind and the one with the best  angiosarcoma prognosis. It is often caught at an earlier stage and surgical resection with radiation may leads to a survival of more than 5 years. Paclitaxel, an angiogenesis inhibitor, has also helped the prognosis for angiosarcoma of the face and scalp. 

 

Liver angiosarcoma has a very poor prognosis. Liver angiosarcoma is often asymtomatic until a later stage of the disease. It has often spread to other parts of the liver and body making it very difficult to treat.  A few people respond well to chemotherapy. In most cases there is a rapid progressive clinical course. Survival rate is usually 6 months to 2 years.

 

Mitotic Count

 

A high mitotic count can indicate the presence of rapidly dividing cells. Cancerous tissue has more mitotic activity than normal tissue. Angiosarcoma prognosis usually is poorer if the count is high which is signaling a fast spreading cancer. Like most forms of cancer, angiosarcoma is uncontrolled cell replication, but its relation to the circulatory system poses unique threats to the health of any individual. It can easily spread through the blood system to other parts of the body.

 

Angiosarcoma prognosis is better when the cancer is limited to a primary site with an aggressive use of surgical resection with radiotherapy. New research and more sophisticated use of radiotherapy, surgical resection, and chemotherapy are increasing the survival rate of this disease.

 

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 See Also:

    * Vinyl Chloride Angiosarcoma
    * Vinyl Chloride

    *Symptoms of Angiosarcoma

 

Angiosarcoma Law Blog