Angiosarcoma of the liver

Category

Cancer, Occupational

Acute/Chronic

Chronic

Synonyms

Angiosarcoma of the liver (ASL); Hemangiosarcoma of the liver is an older term for ASL;

Comments

Increased risk of angiosarcoma of the liver (ASL) was found in workers exposed to vinyl chloride while cleaning reactor vessels for the production of polyvinyl chloride. There is suggestive evidence that German vineyard workers exposed to arsenic in the 1930s and 1940s had increased incidence of angiosarcoma of the liver. [Schottenfeld, p. 773] ASL is the only cancer clearly associated with exposure to vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride workers were exposed during monomer production and in polymerization. "It is unlikely that additional, large cohorts of workers exposed to high levels of this agent will be enrolled in the future, mainly due to the drastic decrease in exposure levels that took place in the vinyl chloride industry after 1974." [Reference Link] "No ASL deaths occurred among workers with vinyl chloride exposures after 1974, when exposures were reduced." [PMID 25376416] See "Liver cancer."

Latency/Incubation

Average latency after first exposure of 36.5 years; [PMID 25376416]

Diagnostic

Histopathological examination;

ICD-9 Code

155.2

ICD-10 Code

C22.3

Reference Link

Agents

Hazardous agents that cause the occupational disease:

• Vinyl chloride