Angiosarcoma of the Liver
Angiosarcoma of the liver is a rare form of cancer. Although it is rare, it is the third most common primary malignant liver tumor. The liver is the largest organ of the body. It provides import functions to the blood and waste systems of the body. An Angiosarcoma is a tumor that arises from the endothelial cells that line the walls of the blood vessels. All blood vessels are lined by endothelial cells; that layer is called the endothelium. The portal vein or central and sublobular veins are often involved.
The tumor begins as a growth of rapidly proliferating immature cells, but can quickly become cancerous and spread to many other systems. Since one of the jobs of the liver is to detoxify the blood, it picks up dangerous toxins. These toxins act on the cells at the gene level. While the damage may take many years to produce symptoms, it often has spread these defective cells to other parts of the liver or through the blood system to other parts of the body. In many of the cases, the tumor is multicentric with both lobes of the liver involved.
Symptoms of Angiosarcoma of the Liver
The symptoms often not specific enough and may be difficult to differentiate from symptoms of other diseases. Some of the patients may exhibit these symptoms of liver disease:
- Enlarged liver
- Abdominal pain
- Reduced appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Jaundice
Other symptoms can include signs of bleeding in the peritoneal cavity and an enlarged spleen is present in some cases of Angiosarcoma of the liver.
Causes of Angiosarcoma of the Liver
The causes of angiosarcoma include toxic exposure to thorium dioxide (Thorotrast), vinyl chloride and arsenic. Though exposure to these environmental toxins may have occurred thirty years ago, people can still develop these cancerous tumors.
Diagnosis of Angiosarcoma
The diagnosis of Angiosarcoma of the liver is often challenging. The history of exposure to environmental toxins is important for diagnosis. The fact that exposure may have occurred many years ago should not rule out the importance of this information. Other problems in diagnosis include the short length of time that symptoms occur and the rapid proliferation of the disease. An Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) measurement and imaging techniques such as CT, ultrasonography or MRI may be useful in the diagnosis.
The Prognosis
The angiosarcoma prognosis for people with this cancer of the liver is not good. The symptoms of the disease occur so late that the cancer has begun to rapidly progress. Treatment options depend on the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Surgical resection is an option only if the tumor is small and limited to one lobe. The tumor also needs to have a large enough margin around it. Chemotherapy may lead to a decrease of tumor size and provide somewhat better liver function. This may increase survival rate by several months. It is important to diagnose Angiosarcoma as early as possible.
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