A cancer is said to have metastasized once it expands its growth to other tissues and organs in the body as a whole. It is a scare to patients because of the difficulty in controlling it once it leaves the primary site. With the intense cancer metastasis research going on in different laboratories globally, cancer management and outcomes are likely to improve a great deal.
Tumors spread in a number of ways once they have been established in the body. Among these methods is direct invasion to neighboring structures. The tumor can also use blood as a medium to be transported to other organs in the body. Common sites of metastasis include bones, the lungs the brain and the liver. Lymph nodes can also be used by the abnormal cells as a means of spread through lymphatic fluid. In most instances, tumors are said to be at stage four once they grow beyond the primary (original) site.
Signs and symptoms suggestive of tumor spread are dependent on what organ the it spreads to. For instance, if it invades the brain, then the patient will complain of chronic headaches that fail to respond to pain medication. With bone invasion, victims tend to sustain fractures with the slightest of physical trauma. Spread to the liver maybe indicated by jaundice, which is A symptom characterised by the eyes becoming yellow. The doctor will do a thorough evaluation to rule out other possible conditions that tend to present the same way.
Surgical excision is usually the treatment of choice for isolated cancers whose margins can be defined. However, for tumours present in multiple places, it is impractical to go about excising each and every one of them. In fact, some of them may be missed in the process. The treatment of choice for metastatic tumors is chemotherapy which uses drugs to limit further growth.
Unfortunately, chemotherapy comes with its own adverse effects. This is because in the process of killing unwanted cells, the drugs end up destroying the normal cells too. Patients may lose their hair in the course of treatment not to mention nausea and vomiting. A strong support system is very crucial in the prolonged survival of cancer victims.
Taking the above into account, research studies grapple with the challenge of producing an agent that will only act on the abnormal cells. One study has come very close to achieving this goal. In this study, the most immediate cells surrounding the metastatic lesion are injected with a special chemical agent whose purpose is to influence the size of the lesion.
In the experiment, the abnormal cells in mice were successfully destroyed. All that is now left is for this concept to be tried and tested in clinical trials. The formulation will go on to save a lot of patients if it shows proof of functionality.
Another approach to research is studying the cancer cell DNA and making a comparison with the normal cell DNA in a bid to identify genetic mutations linked to family and those that have no familial relations at all. This is important because some cancers are known to run in families. This will go a long way in early cancer detection and therefore minimize the risk of metastasis.
Tumors spread in a number of ways once they have been established in the body. Among these methods is direct invasion to neighboring structures. The tumor can also use blood as a medium to be transported to other organs in the body. Common sites of metastasis include bones, the lungs the brain and the liver. Lymph nodes can also be used by the abnormal cells as a means of spread through lymphatic fluid. In most instances, tumors are said to be at stage four once they grow beyond the primary (original) site.
Signs and symptoms suggestive of tumor spread are dependent on what organ the it spreads to. For instance, if it invades the brain, then the patient will complain of chronic headaches that fail to respond to pain medication. With bone invasion, victims tend to sustain fractures with the slightest of physical trauma. Spread to the liver maybe indicated by jaundice, which is A symptom characterised by the eyes becoming yellow. The doctor will do a thorough evaluation to rule out other possible conditions that tend to present the same way.
Surgical excision is usually the treatment of choice for isolated cancers whose margins can be defined. However, for tumours present in multiple places, it is impractical to go about excising each and every one of them. In fact, some of them may be missed in the process. The treatment of choice for metastatic tumors is chemotherapy which uses drugs to limit further growth.
Unfortunately, chemotherapy comes with its own adverse effects. This is because in the process of killing unwanted cells, the drugs end up destroying the normal cells too. Patients may lose their hair in the course of treatment not to mention nausea and vomiting. A strong support system is very crucial in the prolonged survival of cancer victims.
Taking the above into account, research studies grapple with the challenge of producing an agent that will only act on the abnormal cells. One study has come very close to achieving this goal. In this study, the most immediate cells surrounding the metastatic lesion are injected with a special chemical agent whose purpose is to influence the size of the lesion.
In the experiment, the abnormal cells in mice were successfully destroyed. All that is now left is for this concept to be tried and tested in clinical trials. The formulation will go on to save a lot of patients if it shows proof of functionality.
Another approach to research is studying the cancer cell DNA and making a comparison with the normal cell DNA in a bid to identify genetic mutations linked to family and those that have no familial relations at all. This is important because some cancers are known to run in families. This will go a long way in early cancer detection and therefore minimize the risk of metastasis.
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