Heart cancer

[kelfoan]

Is there such a thing as cancer of the heart. If not, why is this organ not susceptable to cancer the same as nearly every other part of the body

[raysparx1]

Yes you can get Cancer of the heart,but it is very rare,more likely for children to get it than adults, it can also spread to the heart from other parts of the body.

[Hans_Olo]

Agree with raysparx1 - these cancers are called sarcomas - I have no idea why but it is the lining part of organs that most cancers develop from - maybe because they are continually growing/dividing/developing so more chance for the complicated process of dna replication to go wrong. Cancers affect the lining of organs/glandulr tissue such as the gut (bowel cancer/stomach cancer), bronchi - (70% lung cancers) prostate glandular tissue - it may be to do with what we subject them to, whether it be tobacco smoke for lung cancer alcohol for gullet cancer red meat/low fibre for bowel cancer helicobacter pylori ( a bacteria) in stomach cancer, Viruses in cervical cancer. Muscles dont divide they are fixed they just die and they dont get subjected to the environmental poisons of the rest of the body.

[raysparx1]

Hans_Olo,

You have explained it far better than I could,really good answer.

[Carakeel]

Hans_Olo, well done on your information. Sarcomas however are not necessarily only heart cancers. I had various types of cancer, among them Ewing's Sarcoma (affecting the bones) and lymphoma of the bone, which are both extremely rare, especially in women. Cancer of the heart is also extremely rare and is more often called cardiac sarcoma or angiosarcoma. Females are slightly less prone to developing cardiac cancer than males. The cause of cardiac cancer can be an underlying heart disease. Generally, cancer strikes where there is weakened tissue in the body. Thankfully, most tumours found in the heart are in fact benign. Treatment for both benign and cancerous tumours of the heart initially consists of surgical removal of the tumour. Sometimes cancer can spread to the heart from lymphomas that originate in the structures of the chest near the heart. I was lucky in that my lymphoma was in the bone. One last note here - there are far more cancer patients who survive than the press would have us believe. Although soon after winning my battle against this disease I sadly lost my oldest son to cancer of the brain, we need to remember that a cancer diagnosis is not always a death sentence. Early diagnosis, appropriate up-to-date treatment, courage and supportive family and friends can help us to survive and live full lives again. Sadly ,for my darling son it was not to be. He died because our local doctors refused to refer him to cancer centres which provided treatment that would have saved his life, just two hours drive from our home. This is the NHS lottery!!!