Cancer spread (Metastasis)
Metastasis means the spread of cancer. This spread is common to many cancer patients by the time they see their doctor and, although it means that surgery is unlikely to be the main treatment, the cancer remains treatable.
Cancer cells that break away from a primary tumour are carried round the body by the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. The cells that escape from a primary site and form a secondary site or sites are known as secondary cancers or metastases. Metastasis is the process and this is easy to understand if one goes back to the Greek origins of the word. Literally it means going beyond (meta) standing still (stasis).
Metastatic cancer is sometimes evident in visible lumps (lesions) or lumps that can be seen with imaging techniques like an X-ray machine.
Using specialized diagnostic tests and microscopes, a pathologist then tries to tell where the cancer cells came from. Usually, cancer cells look like abnormal versions of cells in the tissue where the cancer began but the visible and chemical clues are not always apparent with CUP; true CUP seems to behave differently to other cancers in a way that is not yet understood.
Where these loose cancer cells choose to lodge is random, but these cells form a new tumor, the cells in the metastatic tumor are genetically those of the original tumor. This means, for example, that if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, the metastatic tumor in the lung is made up of cancerous breast cells (not lung cells) and this is then described as metastatic breast cancer (not lung cancer). Chemotherapy drugs are designed to target the primary, or ancestral, cancer cells which is why finding the origin of the cancer is important for treatment.
Symptoms (for more information see CancerBackup)
The signs and symptoms of metastatic cancer are different for everyone (for some there may be no symptoms; for others there may be general physical deterioration). Some of the symptoms can include :
- Breathlessness, discomfort in the chest, or a collection of fluid around the lungs
- Bone pain, back pain
- Swelling and discomfort in the tummy (abdomen), fluid collecting in the abdomen (ascites), yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
- Swollen lymph glands such as those in the neck, underarm, chest or groin. They may feel hard and swollen or cause pain through pressure on tissue or nerves nearby
- Additional, generalised symptoms such as: weight loss, headaches, no appetite, feeling extremely tired
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