Angiosarcoma Prognosis
Angiosarcomas typically begin in the lining of the blood vessels. These rare, aggressive and malignant tumors have a high rate of metastasis into the lungs, liver, regional lymph nodes and bone, as well as, many other parts of the body.
Symptoms of angiosarcoma usually appear late in the development of the disease and are not very specific. This often leads to a diagnosis in the more advanced stages of the cancer. The prognosis depends on what stage the disease is in as well as the following factors:
*Size of tumor
*Tumor site
*How much the tumor has spread
*Treatment of tumor
Angiosarcoma prognosis becomes more difficult when size of tumor is larger than 5 centimeters. A surgical resection is normally needed to get a clearer margin and depth of the tumor. If the tumor had not spread to other sites, an aggressive treatment approach of combined surgical resection and radiotherapy may result to better outcome.
Poorly-differentiated lesions may invade the fascia and deeper connective tissue beneath the dermis. Death may result when the local disease is extensive and/or when the cancer has metastasized – usually into the lungs.
Cutaneous angiosarcoma has the highest survival rate of a possible 5 years or more due to the external nature of the symptoms and earlier detection and treatment. This is the most common form of angiosarcoma and most often appears on the head and neck area, in particular the scalp and upper forehead. Treatment includes radiation with surgical resection. Angiosarcoma of the scalp and face can also be treated with the angiogenesis inhibitor, Paclitaxel.
Liver angiosarcoma is difficult to treat because symptoms do not, typically, appear until the tumor has spread to most parts of the liver and other parts of the body. Survival rate for liver angiosarcoma is usually 6 months to 2 years because few people respond to positively to the chemotherapy treatment.
Angiosarcoma is like other forms of cancer; because of its cell replication is uncontrolled, too. But it poses more threats to health because the disease is connected to the circulatory system. The tumor can spread out easily and quickly to other parts of the body through the blood system.
Available treatment options are: chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical resection, and use of angiogenesis inhibitor.
