Why is heart cancer so rare? – Jackson, 12, Davis, California
You probably know someone who is affected by cancer. This disease occurs when cells divide uncontrollably and can make a person sick.
Cancer can occur anywhere in the body, as all tissues and organs are made up of billions or trillions of cells. However, there are parts of the body that do not cause cancer very frequently, such as the heart. Research shows that in 10,000 people develop heart cancer. In comparison, one in 20 women is expected to develop breast cancer. why is that?
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I am a biologist specializing in blood vessels in the cardiovascular system. Most of my research focuses on how cells interact with the environment to regulate tissue and organ function. It can cause illness when things go wrong.
After all, heart cells have unique characteristics that are highly resistant to cancer.
How Can Cancer Begin
Cells produce more cells, growing, replacing older or worn cells, and repairing damaged tissue. This process is called cell division. Each type of cell in the body is divided at different rates based on multiple factors, such as its function and the age of a person.
For example, cells in growing human embryos divide very quickly and undergo four divisions in three days. The cells that make up your skin, nails and hair are replenished regularly for your entire lifespan. Osteocytes divide at a rate that provides a completely new skeleton about every ten years.
The frequency and frequency of cells dividing is strictly regulated by a series of molecular checkpoints. During cell division, genes in the DNA replicate and are distributed evenly across two daughter cells. Damage to these genes caused by exposure to harmful chemicals, ultraviolet rays, or radiation can cause disease-causing mutations. Mutations can also occur randomly. Cancer can occur if there are mutations in the genes that regulate cell division.
Related: 10 Most Fatal Cancers, and Why There Are No Treatments
What protects heart cells from cancer?
Despite the fact that the heart is the first organ to begin to form during early development, the cells in the adult heart decrease dramatically several times after birth, at age 20. In fact, less than 50% of the heart cells are exchanged in the average human life. In other words, half of the heart cells you are born will help pump blood for your lifetime.
This low cell division rate in the adult heart probably serves as a major defense against cancer. The less frequently a cell divides, the less chances there are for errors during DNA replication.
Additionally, due to the protection of the chest, the heart is not directly exposed to cancer causative factors, such as ultraviolet rays in the skin or inhalants in the lungs.
Unfortunately, the rate of heart cell division has several drawbacks, including a reduced ability to repair and replace cells damaged by disease, injury, and aging.
Why does heart cancer occur?
Even if the heart is resistant to cancer, tumors can still form.
When cancer is discovered in the heart, it is often the result of cancer cells that migrate from another part of the body to the heart. This process is called transfer. Certain types of skin cancer or cancer in the chest are more likely to spread to the heart, but this is still rare.
When they occur, heart tumors are much more severe and aggressive than other cancers. A study that analyzed over 100,000 heart cancer cases in the United States found that patients who received surgery and chemotherapy survived longer than those who received cardiac cancer.
Successful cancer care spans multiple areas of medicine. These include palliative care focused on relieving pain and dealing with symptoms, and integrative medicine that considers connections to the mind and body.
Heart cancer holds cues for heart regeneration
Understanding how cardiac cells divide and why their processes change provides clues about the disease and shapes new treatment ideas.
For example, research into how cardiac cells divide can help scientists better understand why the heart does not heal well after a heart attack. Researchers have discovered that a failed heart has more cells than a healthy one, but it needs help to fully recover.
New technologies, such as the ability to reprogram blood cells into cardiac cells, have allowed researchers to develop new cardiac disease models for their research, one day achieving cardiac regeneration. This opens the door to new treatments for heart disease, including cancer.
Understanding why cancer doesn’t occur is just as important to develop new, better treatments as you know why it happens. The answers to both questions are truly memorable.
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