Abstract

Twenty-five patients with an apparently primary sarcoma of the liver are reviewed. Presenting complaints were non-specific, but hepatomegaly and abnormal liver function tests were usual. Use of the contraceptive pill (four of 11 women) was identified as a possible risk factor; one patient had previously been exposed to vinyl chloride monomer. Detailed investigation showed that the primary tumour was extrahepatic in nine of the 25 patients. Distinguishing features of the 15 patients with confirmed primary hepatic sarcoma included a lower incidence of multiple hepatic lesions and a shorter time from first symptoms to diagnosis, but the most valuable discriminator was histology. Angiosarcomas and undifferentiated tumours were all of hepatic origin, epithelioid haemangioendotheliomas (EHAE) occurred as primary and secondary lesions and all other differentiated tumours arose outside the liver. The retroperitoneum was the most common site of an occult primary tumour and its careful examination therefore crucial: computed tomography scanning was found least fallible in this respect in the present series. Where resection (or transplantation), the best treatment, was not possible, results of therapy were disappointing, prognosis being considerably worse for patients with primary hepatic tumours. Patients with EHAE had a better overall prognosis regardless of primary site.