What is heart cancer

The disease is rare, has a benign, malignant tumor that can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation to improve the health of the patient.
Heart cancer is a phenomenon of uncontrolled proliferation of cells to form malignant tumors in the heart, primary heart cancer caused by heart cells, secondary heart cancer usually caused by breast, lung, kidney cancer. . metastasis. According to the European Heart Association, most cardiac primary tumors are benign, with only about 25% of malignancies.

Symptom

Dr. Nancy Moyer, Medical University of Minnesota (USA), said that the malignant heart tumor developed rapidly, invading other important parts of the heart, which disrupts the structure and function of the organ. , cause symptoms. Benign heart tumors can also have a serious health impact if their location interferes with heart function, the disease manifesting somewhat reflects the location, size, and structure of the tumor.

Blood flow obstruction: When a tumor grows, it can block blood flow through the heart. fatigue, more pronounced with exertion.

A tumor in the ventricles can block blood flow from the heart, causing chest pain, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, even fainting.

Heart dysfunction: when a tumor develops in the heart, the function of the organ is disturbed, the patient develops symptoms: difficulty breathing, swollen legs, chest pain, fatigue ...

Irregular pulse: fast, urgent, unstable pulse ...

Some primary heart tumors can cause symptoms such as fever and chills, fatigue, night sweats, weight loss, joint pain, severe chest pain when you breathe, shortness of breath, especially when the sick person lies down.

Illustration. Source: medicalxpress

The cause to the illness

Causes and risk factors for heart cancer currently have not had clear research results, many experts believe that heart cancer is caused by:

Genetic: most children with rhabdomyoma have scleroderma, a syndrome caused by a change (mutation) in the DNA.

Damaged immune system: Primary cardiac lymphoma occurs frequently in people with weakened immune systems.

Age: some tumors occur more often in adults and some are more common in infants and children.

Inappropriate diet: staying up late, getting up late, not exercising ... along with that, a diet with fast food, foods that are processed under high temperatures like bacon smoke, kebabs ... foods containing lots of mold, spoilage ... will erode your health.

Treatments

The problem of treating a heart tumor is also divided depending on whether it is benign or malignant, primary or secondary and its stage. Most benign tumors need surgery.

Benign tumors: patients can be cured if the tumor can be completely removed.

a very large or multiple tumor, the partial removal of a tumor inside the heart wall may improve or eliminate disease symptoms. Some types can be monitored by annual echocardiography instead of surgery.

Malignant tumors: because they grow quickly and are invasive it is difficult to treat. Chemotherapy and radiation are the methods used to slow tumor growth, improve symptoms (palliative care), but often they are not effective for primary heart cancer.

Heart cancer is rare, the symptoms often resemble other common heart diseases. Tests used to diagnose heart cancer include:

Echocardiography: The doctor can observe the heart's structure, and also check for abnormalities when the heart is working, namely how the heart works, contractions, size, heart shape, pump motions of the walls. Is the heart, the heart valves working properly, there is a tumor, the inflammation around the heart valve, constriction, blood vessels ...

CT scan: these images can help distinguish benign, malignant tumors.

MRI: a method that provides a detailed picture of the tumor, which can help a doctor determine the stage of the disease ...

Biopsy: High-precision medical procedure that diagnoses most cancers.