Metastatic cancer; Cancer metastases
Metastasis is the movement or spreading of cancer cells from one organ or tissue to another. Cancer cells usually spread through the blood or the lymph system.
If a cancer spreads, it is said to have "metastasized."
Whether or not cancer cells spread to other parts of the body depends on many things, including:
Treatment depends on the type of cancer and where it has spread.
Doroshow JH. Approach to the patient with cancer. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 169.
Krasnick BA, Goedegebuure SP, Fields R. Tumor biology and tumor markers. In: Townsend CM Jr, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 21st ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2022:chap 28.
Rankin EB, Giaccia AJ. Cellular microenvironment and metastases. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Kastan MB, Doroshow JH, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 3.
BACK TO TOPReview Date: 10/25/2022
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