Metastatic cancer is a disease where the growth of a cancerous cell out of the original or primary site in the body is not localized but spreads to another or different location in the body; the word is most commonly used to refer to metastasis when talking about a malignant tumor. The new malignant sites, in turn, are often metastatic tumors.
Although it may not be as common as other types of cancer, metastatic cancer has a more deadly effect on its victims than other cancers, because metastatic cancers have been proven to spread much faster, thus causing death faster than any other type of cancer. When one is diagnosed with metastatic cancer, their chances of survival are very slim. Metastatic cancer is often difficult to detect because it is most often not apparent during a physical examination. However, when a physical examination is done and if symptoms such as pain and fatigue develop, a physician may want to perform a biopsy.
A biopsy involves taking a sample of a tumor through a needle under the skin or using a sample of the cancer cells themselves. This procedure is used to look for a tumor or cancer cells that have spread and possibly become malignant.
If cancer cells are found in a cancer sample, doctors may conclude that there is a potential problem with the patient's body. Although a doctor can only make a diagnosis based on the extent of the cancer, doctors can also use biopsy results to determine whether the cancer is aggressive or not. In some cases, doctors do a biopsy and then an MRI to confirm or deny the existence of cancer.
A biopsy often provides a lot of information about a patient's cells
It is important that the test is carried out by a highly qualified specialist so that all the necessary procedures are taken into account. For example, if a biopsy shows that cancer cells have been found in all parts of the patient's body, but not in one part, the patient should undergo surgery or radiation therapy.
Cancer cells can be found in many places in the body. If a person has metastatic cancer, it may start in a specific area, move to another location, and sometimes come back. If there are multiple sites where cancer cells are found, it means the cancer can spread more easily from place to place. Metastatic cancer is a condition in which cancer cells have spread from the original or primary site of cancer and spread throughout the body in a wide radius. As a result, there are no specific areas in the body where cancer was confined only a few months or even a few years ago, so metastatic cancer cannot be confined to just one area of the body.
Metastatic cancer spreads through the bloodstream with lymph flow and can enter the lungs or brain through a tumor. When cancer starts in one part of the body, it can eventually spread through the blood. When cancer cells reach the brain and begin invading, they can spread to different parts of the brain and the entire body, causing severe organ failure.
A patient may go in and out of the hospital with cancer in the lungs, and then the lungs may show little signs of life and then die later. The spread of cancer cells throughout the blood stream may cause permanent organ failure and cause death of the patient. The person may have a very slow and steady decline from the metastatic cancer, or he or she may suffer from organ failure and death within a short period of time.