Can Liver Cancer Be Mistaken for Hemangioma?

Can my hemangioma turn malignant?

The word tumor is never a welcome one, and no matter how much the doctor assures the patient that their tumor is benign and needs no further treatment -or no treatment at all-, the patient will always be anxious about the term and the diagnosis. A hemangioma is not only benign, but the risk of it turning malignant is non-existent. What needs to be excluded, however, is whether the main tumor was a malignant one. A hepatocellular carcinoma can be very vascular that it shows on ultrasound and in some CT scans similarly to a hemangioma. This can be ruled out by a triphasic CT scan and some blood tests. If your doctor is still unsure, they may advise you to follow-up after a few weeks. There is usually no need to worry about the tumor in those weeks since a hepatocellular carcinoma is unlikely to grow significantly in those weeks nor can the window of surgery be closed in them. Although the treatment of both tumors is surgical, the treatment of a cancer is more complex and can include chemotherapy or abandoning surgery in advanced disease, which is why differentiating is important.