Is there such a thing as heart cancer?

Answer 1

Cancer of the heart does exist, both as a primary and secondary cancer. It is rare and can occur in children or adults.

I know that it occurs because people in the Sarcoma group (sarcoma alliance) where I go have Angiosarcoma. So, I probably hear about it more often than most. It is a rare disease sometimes referred to as Angiosarcoma of the Heart or Cardiac Sarcoma.

Cardiac Sarcoma
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic282.ht...

Angiosarcoma of the Heart
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/article

With heart angiosarcoma the "patients can be asymptomatic for a long time or they can present with symptoms mimicking acute pericarditis, pulmonary embolism, or tricuspid stenosis."

Cancer BackUp: Angiosarcoma of the Heart
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/defaul...

Other rare types of malignant heart tumor includes pericardial mesothelioma and a primary heart lymphoma (which can occur in people with AIDS). Secondary cancers (originate elsewhere in the body) can also metatasize to the heart including lung and breast carcinoma, soft-tissue sarcoma, renal cancer, malignant melanoma, leukemia, lymphoma, and sometimes Kaposi's Sarcoma.

I'm not sure why people think that cancer of the heart does not exist. This question is asked on a fairly regular basis:
http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result;_ylt=Ang9UVFESzbwgA01Tsbmi5rsy6IX?p=heart+cancer

Answer 2

Cancers of the heart are rare but possible. I believe its called an 'angiosarcoma', which is just a kind of muscle cancer that occurs in the heart. Most of the time, tumors in the heart are benign.

Answer 3

Cardiac tumors may be primary (benign or malignant) or metastatic (malignant). Myxoma (a connective tissue tumour composed largely of mucoid material), a benign primary tumor, is the most common type. Cardiac tumors may occur in any cardiac tissue; they can cause valvular or inflow-outflow tract obstruction, thromboembolism, arrhythmias, or pericardial disorders. Diagnosis is by echocardiography followed by biopsy. Treatment of benign tumors is usually surgical resection; recurrence is common. Treatment of metastatic malignancy depends on tumor type and origin; prognosis is generally poor.

Answer 4

Yes, it's very rare, though. Cancer can actually occur in any area of the body.

Answer 5

As a matter of fact there is. pretty scary ugh...