OBJECTIVE The literature on primary malignant cardiac tumors is relatively limited because of their rare incidence. This study aimed to provide a proposed treatment strategy for primary malignant cardiac tumors. METHODS The follow-up outcomes of 29 patients with primary malignant cardiac tumors operated, and 8 primary malignant cardiac tumors considered not operable from 1985 to 2013 in the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS Of operation receivers, ten patients had positive surgical margins and nineteen patients had negative surgical margins. Eleven patients received a post-operative neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients rejected to surgery had a lower survival compared with operation receivers (15 vs 23 months, P = 0.011). However, there were no significant differences in survival in patients rejected to surgery than in patients who had positive surgical margins (15 vs 16 months, P = 0.874). Patients who had positive surgical margins had a median overall survival duration of only 16 months, whereas patients with negative surgical margins had a median overall survival duration of 27 months (P = 0.002). There were no significant differences in survival in patients with receiving a post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy than in the rest of the population (20 vs 25 months, P = 0.150). CONCLUSIONS The prognosis for patients with primary malignant cardiac tumors remains very poor. Each patient should be managed on an individual basis, and variety of treatment strategy should be performed. Maximizing the possibility of obtaining negative surgical margins may prolong survival.