hemangiosarcoma
Meaning of hemangiosarcoma: A rare cancer of the cells lining blood vessels, which is why it can begin almost anywhere in the body.
Definition of hemangiosarcoma
Hemangiosarcoma is a cancer of the endothelial cells that form the inner lining of blood vessels. Because those cells exist everywhere blood travels, the tumor can begin in skin, liver, spleen, heart, breast or bone. It tends to grow quickly and to bleed, and it spreads through the bloodstream more readily than along lymph channels.
How hemangiosarcoma is built
- hem/o, hemat/o Combining form · Greek blood
- angi/o Combining form · Greek vessel
- sarc/o Combining form · Greek flesh, connective tissue
- -oma Suffix · Greek tumour, mass, swelling
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Is it the same as angiosarcoma?
In practice, yes. Hemangiosarcoma is an older name for the tumor now usually reported as angiosarcoma, and pathology reports may use either. The word survives more strongly in veterinary medicine, where the tumor is common in dogs and typically starts in the spleen. In people this is a rare cancer, accounting for a very small share of soft tissue tumors, which is part of why it is often recognized late.
Where does it start?
| Site | Circumstance |
|---|---|
| Scalp and face | Older adults, sun exposed skin, the commonest form |
| Breast or chest wall | Years after radiation treatment to the area |
| Arm | In a limb with long standing lymphedema after lymph node surgery |
| Liver | Linked to earlier industrial exposure to vinyl chloride, arsenic or thorium contrast agents |
| Heart or spleen | Uncommon, and often found only when the organ bleeds |
Why is it hard to catch early?
On skin it begins as a flat bruised looking patch that spreads slowly and painlessly, so it is easily read as an ordinary bruise, an infection, or a common form of skin cancer. Inside the body it may cause nothing at all until a fragile tumor vessel gives way and bleeds. Because the tumor is built from vessels, it is fed by blood from the outset, and tumor cells enter the circulation early. Margins are hard to judge even under the microscope, since the abnormal lining cells creep along existing vessels well beyond what the eye can see. That combination explains why treatment usually involves surgery, radiation and drug treatment together rather than any one of them alone.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Biopsy of the spreading scalp lesion confirmed hemangiosarcoma rather than a resolving bruise.
Good to know
Hemangiosarcoma and angiosarcoma name the same tumor, and its habit of spreading unseen along existing vessels is why the edge of the disease is often wider than it looks.
Word origin
Where “hemangiosarcoma” comes from
Built from the Greek haima, meaning blood, angeion, a vessel, and sarx, flesh, with the ending -oma marking a tumor.