Hemangiosarcoma is a rare but aggressive soft tissue malignancy made up of blood vessel cells. It is classified as an occupational cancer and can be caused by exposure to substances such as arsenic and PVC. Hemangiosarcoma can occur in various parts of the body and can be fatal if it invades heart tissue. It can also lead to a condition called Stewart-Treves syndrome.
A soft tissue malignancy called hemangiosarcoma is a serious disease. The term “hemangio” refers to blood vessels, while “sarcoma” refers to cancer of soft tissue that includes adipose or fatty tissue, fibrous tissue, nerves, and blood vessels. Like the benign tumor called hemangioma, hemangiosarcoma is made up of blood vessel cells called endothelial cells. This is why this malignant tumor is called a blood-fed sarcoma. Unlike hemangioma, hemangiosarcoma is among the very rare, but highly aggressive and invasive types of cancer.
Hemangiosarcoma is classified as an occupational cancer because it occurs among workers exposed to arsenic and arsenic-containing compounds. Arsenic is a typical by-product of smelting and serves as a component of many products. These include electrical devices, semiconductors, alloys, fungicides, herbicides and other drugs. It has been shown in studies that exposure to substances, such as thorium dioxide, which is found in tungsten alloys, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is found in many plastic products, can lead to the formation of hemangiosarcoma .
Another name for hemangiosarcoma is angiosarcoma. A lymphangiosarcoma, which is one of the rare tumors of the lymph vessels, is a type of angiosarcoma. Based on the statistics, females and males are equally likely to get the disease, but the elderly are more likely to be affected. Although they can occur at any site, angiosarcomas prefer soft tissue, skin, liver, and breasts. When these rare tumors metastasize to other parts of the body, they preferentially spread to the brain, omentum, and lungs, probably because these organs have a rich vascular supply.
A hemangiosarcoma is filled with blood because it is made up of endothelial cells that eventually form blood vessels. It represents a real challenge in cardiology because, in addition to invading heart tissue, it can also cause bleeding within the heart muscle. This can lead to failure of the body’s pumping mechanism and death.
When a hemangiosarcoma occurs in the skin in combination with long-standing edema of the lymph vessels, it leads to a condition called Stewart-Treves syndrome. This condition frequently occurs in patients who have previously undergone a mastectomy. usually 5 to 15 years earlier. A person with this syndrome usually has severe edema or swelling of the arm on the same side as the mastectomy. This would eventually spread to the forearm and hand. Thickening and wrinkling of the skin would occur, followed by the appearance of purplish or reddish-blue skin lesions that herald the presence of the malignant tumour.
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