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“metastasize”
metastasize (meh TAS tuh size)
1. The process by which cancer spreads from the place at which it first arose as a primary tumor to distant locations in the body that spread from one part of the body to another part.
2. The cancer resulting from the spread of the primary tumor; for example, someone with melanoma may have a metastasis in his or her brain. Also, a person with colon cancer may, fortunately, show no metastases.
2. The cancer resulting from the spread of the primary tumor; for example, someone with melanoma may have a metastasis in his or her brain. Also, a person with colon cancer may, fortunately, show no metastases.
Metastasis depends on the cancer cells acquiring two separate abilities: increased motility and invasiveness. Cells that metastasize are basically of the same kind as those in the original tumor.
If a cancer arises in the lung and metastasizes to the liver, the cancer cells in the liver are lung cancer cells; however, the cells have acquired increased motility and the ability to invade another organ.
When cancer cells metastasize and cause secondary tumors, the cells in the metastatic tumor are duplicates like those in the original, or primary, cancer.