Heart Cancer

Cancer is a condition in which the cells of the body start multiplying by themselves. Although cell multiplication is essential for human body, but cells effected by cancer multiply in an uncontrollable fashion forming lumps and tumors. These tumors then impact the nervous, respiratory and circulatory system and alter body functions. These tumors are also formed in the human heart and are categorized as primary or secondary tumors. Primary tumors are localized to a certain area whereas secondary tumors can spread the cancer to the other parts of the body. The secondary tumors are more common in case of heart cancer.

Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms at initial stages are given below. These symptoms are more or less the same as the symptoms of other cardiovascular diseases.

• Heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute, medically known as Tachycardia
• Hearing of additional heart sounds apart from the normal two beats also known as heart murmur.
• Inflation of muscular walls of the heart, resulting in an increase in the size of the heart. Also known as Cardiomegaly.
• Continuous chest pain which is caused when the heart is not receiving sufficient amounts of blood and oxygen, medically known as Angina.
• Difficulty in breathing also known as dyspnea.
• Feeling of fainting and fever combined with loss of appetite.
• Swelling of the tissue beneath the fingernails also known as finger clubbing.
• Loss of muscle and weight, also known as Cachexia.

Medical researchers are not pretty sure about the causes of heart cancer and other heart disease, yet they have identified the soft tissue cells within the heart known as lymphomas are responsible for developing cancerous cells within the heart. Also, certain chemotherapy drugs like anthracyclines and taxanes etc. can also cause damage to the heart. Tobacco use also increases the chances of heart cancer. If someone in your family had a heart cancer, then you are at an increased risk of developing it.

Treatment
Heart cancer can be cured by taking proper medication and through regular check-ups. Therapeutic care measures have proved to be effective in controlling the symptoms to a great extent. The treatment depends upon the tumor which has caused the cancer. In case of primary tumor treatment, heart surgery can be an option whereas for secondary tumor treatment, effective diagnosis along with relevant treatment is required. Your doctor would be the best person to advice on this as treatment can differ from person to person.

Earlier cancer was considered to be a fatal disease, but today thanks to the advent of various drugs, most of the cancers can be cured or contained to a certain extent. Although, it is a rare form of cancer, ignorance about it can complicate the problem if not diagnosed at initial stages. The best way to be aware of your heart's health is to get checked up on a regular basis.