Heart Cancer

It will be surprising for many knowing about this term Heart Cancer. It is not that common and that is the reason why this is not there in our encyclopedia books. Let us take a look on what it is really and how it can be avoided and if possible how to cure it.

In General:

Many doctors say that this form of cancer is extremely rare and not many patients are seen suffering from this either. But yes it is a strong disease and is of the capacity of other heart disorders like arrhythmia and Congestive Heart Disease in terms of suffering and pain. The interesting thing to learn is that these cancers are not that dangerous as other forms of cancers are. Yes, but there is a threat of death and that too sudden death like seen in the cases of heart attack and Cardiac Arrest. In facts recent numbers game indicates that only a mere 0.1 deaths are due to Heart Cancers. Whether they died of cancer or other reasons is another question that is still answered.

Cancer in any part of the heart is called as Sarcoma. This is a type of Cancer which originates from the soft tissues of the body of the patient. However there is no necessity that the cancerous cell from the tissues should then affect the heart as they can any part of the body. The Lymphomas are the cells that may cause the Heart Cancer as they originate from the heart and then may affect the heart on its way causing Cancer. The other Cancers which affect the heart include melanomas and sarcomas.

How do they affect the Heart?

Heart Cancers not only result due to the proliferation of the cells in the heart. It can also be caused due to several reasons. The one way is by affecting the heart valves, which is called as Marantic Endocarditis. The term Endocarditis here does not mean the infection of the Heart Valves. The other form of Heart Cancer is called as Cardiac Fibrosis. It is commonly associated with the stiffening of the heart muscle. This stiffening process makes the heart work more and thus makes the heart tired and the person is susceptible all other complications of the heart like Arrhythmia and Heart Failure. Also the treatment given for any other cancer may in turn affect the heart itself. This is mainly due to the usage of certain chemotherapy drugs like Anthracyclines, High-dose Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), 5-FU, Taxanes, Trastuzumab (Herceptin) and IL-2.

Also radiation treatments should be given carefully as they may affect the heart if they are given directly as the heart muscle gets exposed directly thus damaging it. The patient may even develop other complications like Heart Murmurs, Congestive Heart Disease and other heart disorders.