Heart Fights Cancer: A beating heart means it's fighting cancer, a new study raises hope

News Topical, Digital Desk : We often think of the heart as a mere pump, constantly pumping blood throughout the body day and night. A normal human heart beats approximately 100,000 times daily, but new research by scientists has revealed something different. According to new research, this constant heartbeat not only sustains life, but may also protect against dangerous diseases like cancer.

This may sound surprising, but it's true that heart cancer is rare. While cancer is common in other parts of the body, the heart remains immune. Scientists have long been trying to understand this mystery, and now they have found a major reason. 

How is the heart protected from cancer?

Heart cells are formed and changed very rarely. Generally, where cells are formed rapidly, there is a higher risk of cancer, but this is not the case in the heart. Despite this, the absence of cancer in the heart was a big question. Now scientists believe that this may be due to the continuous work and pressure of the heart. The heart pumps blood all the time, which creates a special kind of mechanical stress in it. This pressure can prevent cancer cells from growing. A new study has revealed that the continuous movement of the heart changes the behavior of cancer cells, due to which they are not able to grow rapidly.

What is the new research? 

To understand this mystery, scientists conducted a unique experiment on rats. They transplanted a heart into the rat's neck. This transplanted heart was pumping blood, but it wasn't working as hard as a normal heart, meaning its heartbeat had a lower pressure. Then, the scientists injected cancer cells into both hearts: one was a normal, beating heart and the other was a transplanted heart with lower pressure. The results were astonishing. Cancer cells couldn't grow in the heart that was beating normally, but tumors readily formed in the heart with lower pressure. This made it clear that the heartbeat itself acts as a defense mechanism against cancer. 

What is the role of genes and proteins?

Scientists further discovered that this isn't just external pressure; it also penetrates the cells and affects their genes. A specific protein, Nesprin-2, plays a crucial role in this process. This protein transmits external pressure to the nucleus, where it alters gene activity. When this protein functions properly, cancer-related genes are slowed down, and cells are unable to grow. When scientists silenced this protein, the situation changed. Cancer cells began to grow rapidly again, and tumors even began to form in the beating heart. This proved that this entire system is an active defense mechanism.  

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