Get to know “Heart Cancer”, a disease that is very rare, only about 0.1 cases per 1 million people, can happen to anyone regardless of gender and age.
Cardiac cancer or heart cancer is a disease caused by cells. /heart tissue any position of the heart born a mutation It is growing, dividing rapidly, multiplying more than usual. and the body cannot control this division resulting in a cancerous lump/cancer lesion in the heart This cancer cell invades/invades the normal tissues of the heart. adjacent tissues/organs destroys the lymph nodes near the heart and eventually spread to destroy various organs throughout the body, most commonly to the lungs and brain
Heart cancer is found worldwide regardless of ethnicity. but found very rarely by common type Found only about 0.1 cases per 1 million population, found in all ages, but very rare in children. Mostly found in adults and the elderly Women and men can be found close to each other.
Statistics report on Thai cancer patients from the National Cancer Institute in 2015, who were patients in the year 2010-2012, reported that this disease was not found in Thai people.
◉ heart cancer diagnosis
Check echocardiography Computed tomography is a very useful diagnosis. because the position of the tumor was clearly visible saw that the lump had spread to the heart valve coronary artery? Is there bleeding in the endocardial space? Helps to plan surgery well. Cardiac CT and Cardiac MRI examination can be used as a diagnosis and to see if the disease has spread to other parts or not.
◉ heart cancer symptoms There will be symptoms as follows.
– swollen face
– swollen neck
– bulging neck veins
– enlarged liver
– ascites due to ascites
– swollen legs press dents on both sides
– have shortness of breath
– Extremely thin for no apparent reason
◉ How is heart cancer staged?
Because heart cancer is a very rare disease. Therefore, there is no general staging of the disease. But the doctor will divide the disease according to the clinical severity, such as
– the distance in which the lump is located only in the heart and the lump can be completely removed
– Stages in which the cancer has spread outside the heart but is operable and/or stages where the disease cannot be completely removed by surgery
– the period in which the disease cannot be operated on
– The stage in which the disease spreads through the bloodstream to various organs throughout the body, often found in the lungs and brain, which is called stage 4, as with all other types of cancer.
◉ How can heart cancer be treated?
The main treatment for heart cancer is surgical removal of the cancer by direct open heart surgery (open heart surgery) or with the use of robots, or may require the use of an auto heart transplantation technique. that will allow the cancer to be removed as possible by cutting out the heart Then surgery to remove the cancer completely. and then transplanted this own heart back into it again after surgery Treatment is often continued with chemotherapy according to the type of cancer cells. radiotherapy section It is often used in the case of heart cancer treatment in stage 4. To relieve the symptoms of cancer spreading to other organs, for example, brain irradiation in case of cancer spreading to the brain, and another method is using targeted therapy/drugs that target cancer cells. No studies have found effective drugs.
◉ Is there a way to screen for heart cancer?
At present, there is no screening method for detecting heart cancer in the early asymptomatic stage.
◉ How can I prevent heart cancer?
Because heart cancer is a cancer with unknown causes and risk factors. Therefore, there is still no way to prevent the disease.
Thank you for the information from: Bumrungrad Hospital / Emeritus Professor Puangthong Kraipiboon
