Heart cancer is fairly rare, as the muscle cells of the heart do not typically form cancers. Heart cancer can be either primary or secondary. Primary heart tumors are not malignant, but can still be very serious.
History
Cancer is a condition in which normal cells begin growing rapidly. In addition to their expedited growth, cancerous cells respond abnormally or not at all to certain cell signals. Cancerous cells also can gain other abilities, including the ability to create additional blood vessels and to migrate throughout the body.
Identification
One of the reasons why heart cancers are so rare (a study of 12,487 Hong Kong autopsies found only 7 tumors of the heart), is that the basic tissue of the heart normally does not grow and divide. Since rapid cell division is one of the earliest steps of cancer development, this makes most heart cells resistant to tumor formation. Nonetheless, tumors can originate in heart tissue (termed primary cardiac tumors) as well as spread there from another region of the body (secondary tumors).
Types
The most common primary heart tumor is the myxoma. Myxomas have their origin in connective tissue. A cardiac myxoma may create an extra heart sound, and it can often be detected an echocardiogram. Most primary cardiac tumors are rare to metastasize and spread; as such they are often called benign. These tumors can, however, be serious, as they can obstruct the heart's flow as well as disrupt its electrical system, which can lead to sudden death.
Effects
Secondary cardiac cancer is the result of a spread and metastasis from another region in the body. Secondary heart tumors can resemble tissue from other locations, as the new tumor will resemble tissue from the region where the tumor began. Since these tumors have already spread, they are very dangerous as they can invade the heart tissue as well as spread to other areas of the body.
Prevention/Solution
One of the difficulties of heart tumors is that, due to the fact that they occur on the heart, they are difficult to operate on. In addition, radiation therapy is dangerous because it can damage healthy heart tissue. Fortunately, primary tumors are rarely dangerous; secondary tumors, on the other hand, are extremely serious. Secondary cardiac cancer is generally fatal within two years of the diagnosis, as it rapidly invades the heart tissue, blocking off normal blood flow to the heart.
Tags: heart tissue, heart tumors, another region, another region body, cardiac cancer