Primary soft tissue tumors of the heart are very
rare. (less than 0.01% of all cancers). When they occur, however,
they usually cannot be surgically excised with an adequate margin
of uninvolved tissue without seriously affecting heart function,
or life itself. In some instances, orthotopic heart transplantation
(OHT), that is, surgical removal of the old heart and associated
tumor, and its replacement with a new donor heart precisely in
the place where the old one pumped blood has been performed in
selected patients. At this time, seventeen patients throughout
the world have undergone OHT, 8 of them at the Herbert Irving
Comprehensive Cancer Center. Those with malignant tumors were
first treated with 3-6 courses of monthly chemotherapy prior to
transplantation. Tumor free survival beyond two years has thus
far been seen in 3 patients.
Guidelines for patient eligibility and adjuvant chemotherapy pretreatment
have been developed, and can be found in the Clinical Trial section
under
Cardiac Sarcoma.
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