Cancer Metastasis Research Is Able To Tell Us A Lot About How These Dangerous Cells Work

By Timothy Stevens


Cancer is a diagnosis everyone dreads hearing. Even worse is the news that it is spreading, or metastasizing, and invading other parts of the body. This is life changing information. Cancers do not have to be fatal, but once they start traveling, controlling them is challenging. Cancer metastasis research has given doctors a lot of tools to work with. Understanding how cancerous cells move is one of them.

Metastasizing is what you don't want cancerous cells to do. This phenomenon is one of the things that makes the disease so serious. Affected cells can move anywhere on a person's body. They may not attack a neighboring organ as you would suppose. Cells use blood and lymph nodes to travel to far parts of the body. When they do this, cancers are considered stage four. When cancers move to other organs, they aren't renamed. They retain the name of the primary cancers.

There are different ways for cancerous cells to spread. They can attach onto or attack healthy tissue located nearby. Cells use the bloodstream to travel to various parts of one's body. They can choose to stop in blood vessels and invade the walls. Tumors can develop once they do this because the cells have the ability to create new blood vessels, which in turn creates a source of blood that feeds the new tumor.

Cancerous cells can spread anywhere, but researchers have discovered that certain cancers are more likely to travel to certain areas than others. They most commonly spread to the bones, the lungs, and the liver. Breast cancers for instance commonly spread to the lungs, brain, and liver. Melanoma may spread to the skin, muscles, brain, bones, lungs, and liver. Kidney cancers can attack the adrenal glands.

Once cancerous cells have moved to an organ, there will be symptoms. Shortness of breath can be an indication that cells have moved into the lungs. Bone fractures might mean they have invaded bone tissue. Cells that spread to the brain can cause headaches, dizziness, and seizures.

When diseased cells start traveling, it is hard to control them. Treatment will vary according to the primary cancer, the treatments a patient has already had, and the physical health of a patient. Doctors try to contain the cells and slow their growth. Relieving the symptoms is a primary concern. If the treatments are successful, the patient's life can be prolonged.

Sometimes the treatments fail and doctors have to tell patients that the cells are out of control. At this point, the patient can choose to do several things. The treatments can be continued in the hope that cells will stop traveling and tumors will shrink. Palliative care is an option that will relieve side effects and reduce the discomfort of symptoms.

This is the time to make end of life decisions, if that has not already been done. A diagnosis of metastasized cancer is hard to hear. It is one great reason everyone should live their lives as though each day is the last.




About the Author: