noun
metastasis
muh-TAS-tuh-sis/məˈtæstəsɪs/
The establishment of cancer away from its original site.
The scan shows a metastasis in the patient's liver.
Etymology
Change combined with placing or standing gives the idea of removal or migration. In medicine, this became a shift of disease between body parts, underlying the selected sense of cancer spreading.
In context
metastasis okay so this is the process in which yeah is that encouraging what well yeah okay so this is where cancer cells break down tissues from where they are formed and then they travel
More examples
- Doctors check nearby lymph nodes for signs of metastasis.
- Treatment aims to prevent metastasis to other organs.
- Several small metastases appear in the lungs.
Forms
metastasis · metastases
metastasize verb — To spread to another site, as cancer.
metastatic adjective — Relating to cancer spreading beyond its origin.
Similar words
- spread
- Broader term that also includes growth into nearby tissue.
- secondary tumor
- Names the resulting tumor rather than the spreading process.