Heart cancer - when heart tissue proliferates uncontrollably: These symptoms should lead to a doctor

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in Germany.

Detected early on, the chances of recovery are often good - even with heart cancer.

A tumor can develop in almost any region of the body. This is a new formation of body tissue: cells begin to divide in an uncontrolled manner and tissue overgrows.

Often times, tumors are benign. But there are also malignant forms that need to be treated

. The most common cancer in men is currently prostate cancer *, followed by lung and colon cancer, according to the Federal Ministry of Health. It also states that women are most likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, followed by colon and lung cancer. Every year, a total of around 492,000 people are newly diagnosed with cancer.

The heart can also be affected.

Heart tumors, however, are very rare.

They make up only 0.05 percent of all human tumors: ¾ of them are benign, ¼ are malignant, as the Jena University Hospital informs.

Causes of heart cancer unknown

According to the Jena University Hospital, heart cancer begins to proliferate for unknown reasons.

Usually these are so-called myxomas and fibroelastomas, both of which are mostly benign.

According to Jena University Hospital, lipomas, which consist of fatty tissue, and rhabdomyomas are also benign heart tumors.

Rhabdomyosarcomas (degenerate heart muscle cells) and angiosarcomas (degenerate vascular cells) would be considered extremely malignant, but rare.

The tumors mentioned above arise directly in the heart.

According to the specialist portal

msdmanuals.com

, however, cancer of the heart is far more common because cancer

spreads

from other organs to the heart.

Breast or lung tumors, for example, can metastasize

- that is, the cancer cells can be transported to distant parts of the body such as the heart via the blood or lymph.

Recognizing heart cancer: what symptoms may suggest the disease

According to the Ärzteblatt, patients with heart tumors usually have unspecific symptoms that depend, among other things, on the location of the tumor.

In general, a heart tumor can lead to cardiac arrhythmias, heart valve constrictions (stenosis), heart attacks or acute circulatory failure with sudden cardiac death, according to the Jena University Hospital.

According to

the University Hospital and

msdmanuals.com

, the

following complaints can

indicate heart cancer:

• Inefficiency

• shortness of breath

• Chest pain / tightness

• Swelling of the lower legs

• sudden heart failure (causing shortness of breath and tiredness)

• Irregular heartbeat (causing palpitations, weakness, or fainting)

Tumors that primarily develop in the heart can also metastasize and thus spread throughout the body.

If the spine is affected, patients can suffer from pain in this area of ​​the body.

If metastases

develop

in the surrounding heart tissue or in the lungs,

symptoms such as breathing problems and coughing up blood are

possible.

The earlier a cancer is detected, the faster the appropriate treatment can begin

.

You should therefore attend check-ups and cancer screening appointments.

You can find more information here: https://www.krebsinformationsdienst.de/vorbeugung/fruehicherung/index.php

(jg) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

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