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“Cardiac tumors, i.e. those that originate at the level of the heart, can be either primitive, when they originate from the heart, or metastatic if the heart is affected by metastases deriving from a tumor located elsewhere”. Primary cardiac tumors, specifies the oncologist, “can be malignant or benign: approximately 70-80% are fortunately benign and only 20-30% are malignant”. As for localization, they can arise in various structures of the cardiac organ, affecting the myocardium, i.e. the heart muscle, the endocardium, i.e. the membrane that lines the cavities of the heart or the pericardium, which is the membrane that externally covers the heart.
Types of heart cancer
The heart can be affected by two types of tumor, primary, when it arises from the same muscle, or they can be metastases generated by other tumors. If the tumor is primary it must be distinguished as benign or malignant. Primary malignant ones are very rare, a metastatic formation is more likely. We are talking about low numbers in Italy, around 50 cases per year and usually originate from the myocardium (the heart muscle), those on the lining part, the endocardium, are less frequent. The majority of cardiac tumors, around 80%, are benign.
The symptoms that should alert you
Establishing a heart tumor based on symptoms alone is not easy but the symptoms are serious enough to require specific tests. Heart failure, arrhythmia, tachycardia, heart failure but also stroke and coronary heart disease: these are the alarm bells that push cardiologists to carry out further investigations. Benign tumors, then, can also be totally asymptomatic.
Diagnostic tests can save lives
Diagnostic tests are fundamental: “There are in fact precise radiological criteria that help in the diagnosis, taking into account that some benign lesions have specific radiological characteristics that distinguish them from malignant lesions. In the case of malignant cardiac tumors however, being rare, it is essential that they are managed and treated only in highly specialized centers with high volumes of activity”. In general, concludes the president of the Aiom Foundation Saverio Cinieri, “it is however good to never neglect any symptoms, even the apparently lighter ones, from chest pain to slight breathing difficulty, and always talk about it with your doctor”.
Treatments to deal with heart cancer
Surgical removal of the tumor is the definitive solution. In most cases of benign tumors this route is the safest. The situation is different regarding malignant tumors, cases in which surgery cannot even be proposed. This is why we rely on radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. Therapies that are not excluded even in benign cases because they reduce the risk of recurrence.
