Heart Cancer - Causes, Signs, Symptoms And Treatment Of Heart Cancer, How Long Do They Live?

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Video: Heart Cancer - Causes, Signs, Symptoms And Treatment Of Heart Cancer, How Long Do They Live?

Video: Heart Cancer - Causes, Signs, Symptoms And Treatment Of Heart Cancer, How Long Do They Live?
Video: SIGNS THAT YOU HAVE A HEART DISEASE 2024, March
Heart Cancer - Causes, Signs, Symptoms And Treatment Of Heart Cancer, How Long Do They Live?
Heart Cancer - Causes, Signs, Symptoms And Treatment Of Heart Cancer, How Long Do They Live?
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Heart cancer causes, symptoms and treatment

Content:

  • Types of heart cancer
  • Heart cancer symptoms
  • Diagnostics
  • Heart cancer treatment

The heart is an organ that is responsible for the blood supply and oxygen supply to the whole body, any failure in its work has a very difficult effect on the general condition of a person.

Causes of occurrence

Malignant formations in the heart are quite rare. Some scientists explain this by the fact that this organ is heavily supplied with blood and its cells are not subject to division. The heart is in a constant working rhythm, and metabolic processes in it occur quickly, but, nevertheless, sometimes a tumor is found in it.

A neoplasm in the heart can appear as a result of poor environmental conditions, the use of poor-quality food by a person with the presence of carcinogens, the presence of bad habits, hereditary characteristics of the body. Experts believe that factors such as atherosclerosis and a tendency to form blood clots can also cause heart cancer. Quite often, malignancy of the myxoma, which has appeared in the heart, occurs - a benign neoplasm, the cause of which is most often heart surgery or traumatic injury to the chest. Most often, heart cancer develops in people of either sex between the ages of 30 and 50.

See also: Other Cancer Causes and Risk Factors

Types of heart cancer

Heart cancer
Heart cancer

There are two types of cancer that affect the heart muscle. It is primary, which develops directly from mutated heart tissues (found in 25% of cases), and secondary, while another organ is the focus of the tumor, and the heart is affected by outgoing metastases.

The most common primary oncological degeneration of cells in the heart is sarcoma. It is characterized by damage to the right parts of the organ with compression of large vessels. Her growth is very fast, with characteristic metastases to the brain, nearby lymph nodes, lungs. The most commonly diagnosed angiosarcoma, less often fibrosarcoma or rhabdomyosarcoma. And it is extremely rare that primary heart tumors such as lymphoma or mesothelioma are found.

Most often, secondary cancer occurs in the form of metastases from the lungs or mammary gland, kidneys or thyroid gland, this indicates a far-reaching process in these organs and its severity. The occurrence of metastases in the heart occurs by the lymphogenous or hematogenous route, and sometimes due to direct germination from damaged neighboring organs.

Heart cancer symptoms

Heart cancer symptoms
Heart cancer symptoms

Diagnosis of a disease at any stage of development can be difficult, since no particularly characteristic signs are found for it. In any case, with an increase in signs of heart failure (arrhythmia, shortness of breath, chest pain) and the appearance of general symptoms of cancer intoxication (weight loss, increasing weakness, body pain, constant temperature, enlarged liver), immediate action should be taken.

The symptoms of such a disease are often combined with signs of damage to the nervous system (paralysis or paresis, convulsions, loss of consciousness). However, with heart cancer, symptoms can increase so rapidly that they do not have time to provide assistance in a timely manner.

Clinically, the symptomatology of cancer of the heart depends on the size and location of the tumor and is disguised as other diseases - myocarditis, pericarditis, ischemic disease, and others.

Secondary cancer in the form of metastases in the heart occurs against the background of typical signs of the underlying disease. There are, however, cases when the first clinical sign of another tumor is a metastatic lesion of the heart muscle.

Diagnostics

For the correct diagnosis of oncological heart disease, a whole range of measures is used, including the study of the history of the disease (anamnesis), the clinical picture, laboratory and instrumental methods:

  • Listening to heart sounds can reveal the appearance of various murmurs characteristic of valve lesions.
  • In a blood test, a decrease in hemoglobin and platelets, an increase in ESR, C-reactive protein, and leukocytes are determined.
  • An ECG may show an increase in heart sections, a violation of the rhythm and conduction function, and in some leads - a decrease in voltage.
  • EchoCG helps to determine the size of the formation, its localization and the presence of fluid in the pericardial cavity.
  • A more detailed study of the tumor can be obtained with an MRI or CT scan.
  • The study of the biopsy specimen of the neoplasm and the composition of the fluid in the pericardium help to finally establish the diagnosis.

Disguise at the primary stages of heart cancer as other diseases makes it very difficult to detect it in a timely manner. The most common pathology - sarcoma grows so rapidly that in most cases it ends in death. Therefore, despite modern techniques, heart cancer leads to death of a person 6–12 months after its detection.

Heart cancer treatment

Treatment
Treatment

Symptomatic treatment for a diagnosis such as heart cancer may include systemic chemotherapy with cytostatics and radiation (gamma therapy). This allows you to slow down the growth of the tumor and prevent its further spread. After carrying out such procedures, subject to the timely detection of the disease, the patient's life can be extended for up to 5 years.

At the moment, there are treatment methods in which the effect on the reborn cells is maximum, and healthy tissues are not affected. This is brachytherapy. It consists in placing radioactive particles directly into the thickness of the tumor growth. And the gamma knife is currently considered the most accurate and safe way. This is a type of contact radiation therapy carried out using a special high-precision apparatus.

In progressive clinics around the world, upon detection of a primary heart tumor, it is surgically removed. To do this, a heart-lung machine is connected to the patient, and the affected area is excised with subsequent suturing. If the lesion affects large areas of the heart muscle and the valve apparatus, then a heart transplant is performed. Sometimes a larger operation is performed, and a person's heart is transplanted along with the lungs.

After removal of the malignant tumor in 40% of cases, on average after two years, a relapse may occur.

See also: Other treatments

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The author of the article: Bykov Evgeny Pavlovich | Oncologist, surgeon

Education: graduated from residency at the Russian Scientific Oncological Center. N. N. Blokhin "and received a diploma in the specialty" Oncologist"

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