CANCER AND HEART

Tumors do not originate in the heart but that strike. Most heart tumors does not originate in heart, because they are most often derived from tumors distance (metastatic). They can reach the heart via hematic (most) or via contiguous when originate in the heart and surrounding tissues to invade.

Any tumor can reach the heart structures. The most common are lung cancer, breast, melanoma, leukemia and lymphomas. In autopsies are from 1 to 20% of commitment heart by cancer. In melanomas, this frequency reaches 60%.

Signs and symptoms produced by metastatic tumors in the heart are similar to benign tumors, but these manifestations are often not registered by both the patient and the doctor, because produced by the primary disease usually dominate the clinical picture. The blood hypercoagulability, an increased tendency of blood to clot and form emboli, is increased in tumor-bearing people. This can clog vessels anywhere in the body, depending on the symptoms of blocked vessels.

There is also an increased tendency in patients with cancer, particularly cancers originate in the digestive system, for installation of nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis. Another way cancer compromising the heart are the consequences of treatment. Radiation therapy may compromise coronary to promote arteriosclerosis. It can also cause damage to the heart muscle, causing actinic myocarditis. Upon reaching the pericardium can cause pericarditis. The radiation strikes the diseased cells such as healthy.

Chemotherapy, especially those cancers that respond best to this treatment, can cause considerable damage to the heart. The consequences of chemotherapy usually manifest in the heart late, when the underlying disease is cured or prolonged palliative stage. Who should weigh the pros and cons in choosing any treatment and its possible risks and benefits, it is the doctor responsible for the patient.

To make the decisions are taken into account:

the patient's age,

the existence or absence of previous heart disease,

The patient's sensitivity to certain drugs,

the chances response to this or that drug.

All these data are the doctor decide what is best for each case.

Decisions on:

indication of the type of treatment,

doses,

therapeutic associations,

treatment time,

which the most suitable drugs,

These are questions that a team of experts should take. The goal is to achieve a cure, or a higher degree of efficacy and survival with a better quality of life without causing further damage to many patient systems, including cardiovascular. It is a multidisciplinary issue.

Forum UKM 10:01:00 PM