Primary cancer that first occurs in the heart is very rare… Heart muscle and cells, an environment that is difficult for cancer cells to grow
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Cancers that occur in organs or tissues, such as lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, uterine cancer, and thyroid cancer, cancers that occur in epithelial cells, sarcoma, leukemia, and lymphoma, etc., depending on the cell type…
There are so many scary types of cancer, right? Cancer is classified by various criteria such as the location of occurrence, cell type, and differentiation stage, and there are more than 100 types of cancer that have been discovered so far. But when I think about it, I don’t think I’ve heard much about heart cancer, which plays a key role in our lives. Can cancer develop in the heart?
Yes, cancer does occur, but it is very rare. Generally, when a mass develops in the heart, it is called a cardiac tumor. Among these, a malignant tumor is called a cardiac cancer. Cancer that first appears in the heart is called primary cardiac cancer, and its incidence is very low, about 1 to 2 cases per million people. The most common type of primary cardiac cancer is a sarcoma-type cancer, such as cardiac sarcoma or myxoma.
In addition, most cases of cancer in the heart are metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread from another part of the body and entered the heart). Since the cancer did not originate in the heart, it is not included in statistics.
Heart muscle that moves throughout life…not suitable for the environment in which cancer grows
Why doesn’t cancer develop in the heart? The heart, which beats hard, is the part of the body that moves the most throughout life. It is not easily exposed to external stimuli, and it is composed only of muscle cells, which is why cancer is unlikely to develop in the heart.
Heart muscle (myocardium) divides very slowly or hardly at all compared to normal somatic cells. Most cancers are caused by mutations or errors that occur when cells divide. The explanation is that because cardiomyocytes do not divide well, the probability of developing cancer is low.
Moreover, the heart is an organ that supplies blood to the entire body, and is very rich in oxygen and nutrients. Cancer cells tend to multiply better in an environment with insufficient oxygen. The heart has the opposite environment, making it difficult for cancer to grow.
When the heart stops, it is a state of death. The heart beats from the time of the fetus in the mother’s womb until it stops at death. It is very active and moves a lot. This movement of the heart also makes it difficult for tumors to have a stable support structure for growth. Unlike other organs, the contraction and relaxation movement of the heart hinders the growth and spread of cancer cells.
According to the National Cancer Information Center, the exact cause of heart cancer has not yet been identified. Family history is known to be a risk factor for myxoma, a representative benign heart cancer. Since heart cancer often has no symptoms, it is often discovered accidentally during examinations. A cardiac ultrasound is an effective screening test for heart cancer.
If cancer is in the heart, symptoms may include fever, weight loss, general weakness, joint pain, Raynaud’s phenomenon, erythema, clubbing (clubbing of the fingertips), systemic embolism, or pulmonary embolism. Symptoms of heart disease include shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness and fainting, hemoptysis, and sudden death. Primary heart cancer is very rare, and it often spreads to the heart as a metastatic cancer, so overall cancer prevention also helps prevent heart cancer.
Source: kormedi.com
