While cancer can occur in any organ of the body (including the skin), there’s one organ where cancer rarely occurs. Dr Priyam Bordoloi, an Internal Medicine expert, recently took to X to explain why cancer rarely takes place in the heart.
“The irony is fascinating: The organ that works nonstop for your entire life is also one of the least likely organs to get cancer,” wrote Dr Bordoloi.
He explained that most cancer arises in tissues where cells are continuously growing, dividing and replacing old, damaged cells. Each time a cell copies itself, there’s always a risk of an error in it’s DNA. Over many years, these genetic errors may accumulate and eventually trigger uncontrolled cell growth.
However, heart muscles - also known as cardiomyocytes largely stop reproducing after birth. As they rarely ever divide, there are far fewer opportunities for life threatening DNA errors leading to cancerous mutations.
In comparison, other organs are formed of tissues undergoing rapid renewal making them far more susceptible to DNA errors and malignant cell growth.
“Skin → constantly renewing
• Colon → rapid turnover
• Bone marrow → continuous cell production
• Lungs → repeated toxin exposure. These tissues are mutation hotspots,” he wrote.
According to Dr Bordoloi, the heart being in constant motion discourages growth and expansion of abnormal cells. Moreover, the heart receives a rich supply of blood and has a unique metabolic system to support it’s non-stop activity. This discourages birth of malignant cells.
Dr Bordoloi however cautioned that while heart cancers are uncommon, they are nevertheless not unheard of. These include angiosarcoma which affects blood vessel tissue, rhabdomyosarcoma occurring from muscles cells, and primary cardiac lymphoma which takes place in the immune system cells in the heart.
“Rare does NOT mean impossible. They are just extraordinarily uncommon in medicine…” he concluded
Symptoms Of Cardiac Angiosarcoma
As per a Cleveland Clinic report, symptoms of angio sarcoma include:
Shortness of breathe
Chest pain
Heart palpitations
Fatigue
“The irony is fascinating: The organ that works nonstop for your entire life is also one of the least likely organs to get cancer,” wrote Dr Bordoloi.
He explained that most cancer arises in tissues where cells are continuously growing, dividing and replacing old, damaged cells. Each time a cell copies itself, there’s always a risk of an error in it’s DNA. Over many years, these genetic errors may accumulate and eventually trigger uncontrolled cell growth.
However, heart muscles - also known as cardiomyocytes largely stop reproducing after birth. As they rarely ever divide, there are far fewer opportunities for life threatening DNA errors leading to cancerous mutations.
In comparison, other organs are formed of tissues undergoing rapid renewal making them far more susceptible to DNA errors and malignant cell growth.
“Skin → constantly renewing
• Colon → rapid turnover
• Bone marrow → continuous cell production
• Lungs → repeated toxin exposure. These tissues are mutation hotspots,” he wrote.
According to Dr Bordoloi, the heart being in constant motion discourages growth and expansion of abnormal cells. Moreover, the heart receives a rich supply of blood and has a unique metabolic system to support it’s non-stop activity. This discourages birth of malignant cells.
Dr Bordoloi however cautioned that while heart cancers are uncommon, they are nevertheless not unheard of. These include angiosarcoma which affects blood vessel tissue, rhabdomyosarcoma occurring from muscles cells, and primary cardiac lymphoma which takes place in the immune system cells in the heart.
“Rare does NOT mean impossible. They are just extraordinarily uncommon in medicine…” he concluded
Symptoms Of Cardiac Angiosarcoma
As per a Cleveland Clinic report, symptoms of angio sarcoma include: Shortness of breathe
Chest pain
Heart palpitations
Fatigue
