Metastasize

Metastasis is the medical term for cancer that spreads to a different part of the body from where it started. When this happens, doctors say the cancer has "metastasized." Your doctor may also call it "metastatic cancer," "advanced cancer," or "stage 4 cancer." But these terms can have different meanings based on where the cancer is located. Not all cancers that are advanced or stage 4 are metastatic.

Definition

Metastasis is the process by which cancer cells spread from the place in the body where they first formed to other parts of the body. When cancer cells metastasize, they break away from the original (primary) tumor, travel through the blood or lymph system, and form a new tumor in other organs or tissues of the body. The new, metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the lung, the cancer cells in the lung are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer.

Process

The process of metastasis includes many steps and involves changes at the cellular level. Metastasis is a complex process that includes local invasion, intravasation, transport, extravasation, and colonization. The steps of metastasis are sometimes referred to as the "metastatic cascade."

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of metastasis can occur before or at the same time as the primary cancer is found, or it may occur months or years later. When a new tumor is found in a patient who has been treated for cancer in the past, it is more often a metastasis than another primary tumor.

Treatment

Treatment of metastatic cancer aims to slow the growth or spread of the cancer. The treatment plan may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, surgery, or participation in clinical trials. The choice of treatment generally depends on the type of primary cancer, the size and location of the metastasis, the patient's age and general health, and the types of treatments the patient has had in the past.

See also

• Cancer
• Oncology
• Tumor

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