What is the difference between metastasis and cancerous tumors

View information for Guest Services ». Access your health information from any device with MyHealth. You can message your clinic, view lab results, schedule an appointment, and pay your bill. Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells.

Cancer cells rapidly reproduce despite restriction of space, nutrients shared by other cells, or signals sent from the body to stop reproduction. Cancer cells are often shaped differently from healthy cells, they do not function properly, and they can spread to many areas of the body. Tumors, abnormal growth of tissue, are clusters of cells that are capable of growing and dividing uncontrollably; their growth is not regulated.

Oncology is the study of cancer and tumors. The term "cancer" is used when a tumor is malignant, which is to say it has the potential to cause harm, including death. Tumors can be benign noncancerous or malignant cancerous.

Benign tumors tend to grow slowly and do not spread. Malignant tumors can grow rapidly, invade and destroy nearby normal tissues, and spread throughout the body. The original tumor is called the " primary tumor. These new tumors are referred to as " secondary tumors.

The cancerous cells travel through the blood circulatory system or lymphatic system to form secondary tumors. The lymphatic system is a series of small vessels that collect waste from cells, carrying it into larger vessels, and finally into lymph nodes. Lymph fluid eventually drains into the bloodstream. The Stanford Medicine Online Second Opinion program offers you easy access to our world-class doctors. Visit our online second opinion page to learn more. Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment.

As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may have access to the latest, advanced clinical trials. Open trials refer to studies currently accepting participants. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but may open in the future. Nearby lymph nodes are the most common place for cancer to metastasize.

Cancer cells also tend to spread to the liver, brain, lungs, and bones. Certain types of cancer are more likely to spread to certain organs. Melanoma , the most dangerous type of skin cancer, frequently spreads to the brain and lungs. Prostate cancer most often spreads to the bones. Even after cancer has invaded another organ, it is still identified by the place where it developed.

For example, colon cancer that has spread to the liver is not the same as primary liver cancer. Instead, it is called liver metastases or secondary liver cancer. Breast cancer that spreads to the lungs is still treated like breast cancer, not like lung cancer. If the original tumor responds to the hormone-blocking drugs that are often used to treat breast cancer, then metastatic lung tumors are likely to respond to them as well.

The symptoms of metastatic cancer vary greatly depending on the type of cancer and where it has spread. For cancer that has spread to the brain , common symptoms include headaches, seizures, and vision problems. For cancer that has spread to the liver , people may have jaundice yellowing of the skin or eyes , swelling in the legs, fatigue, weight loss, or loss of appetite. In some instances, the cancer may spread after a person has already been treated for the original tumor.

Metastatic tumors may appear months or even years after first treatments. In other cases, people may not be aware of having cancer at all until they notice symptoms from metastatic tumors.

There are many treatments for metastatic cancer. It often depends on where the cancer began and where it has spread. Chemotherapy is most commonly used, along with radiation , to shrink tumors. Memorial Sloan Kettering doctors are developing many innovative treatments for metastatic cancer.

For example:. It is available to all MSK patients who have metastatic cancer. The test was designed to find the specific in mutations in tumors that can be treated with targeted drugs. These drugs may include FDA-approved medications or experimental treatments that are available through clinical trials. In addition to the combination treatment Dr.

Beal is studying, there are a number of other immunotherapy options for people with metastatic cancer. In one trial, immune cells are engineered to seek out and destroy breast and lung tumors that have metastasized to the chest wall. As researchers continue to make advances in treatment, certain types of metastatic cancer increasingly can be cured.

These include colon cancer and melanoma. More commonly, however, therapies for metastatic cancer are palliative. For many people, palliative treatments can keep the disease under control for many years.

Some drugs can hold tumors at bay for a long time if patients continue to take them, although resistance may eventually develop. In this way, cancer can become more like a manageable chronic condition, one that allows people to live with the disease for a long time. The best way to keep cancer from spreading is to remove primary tumors when they are very small, before they have a chance to move to other areas of the body. This is in part why cancer screening is so important.

But even when cancer is detected and removed early, tumor cells may already be circulating in the blood and lymph vessels or hiding out in other parts of the body.

Learning more about how tumor cells spread and take root in other parts of the body is an important area of research at many cancer centers, including MSK. Doctors can have different opinions on the best treatment plan. Learn more about getting a second opinion.

In some situations, metastatic cancer can be cured, but most commonly, treatment does not cure the cancer. But doctors can treat it to slow its growth and reduce symptoms. It is possible to live for many months or years with certain types of cancer, even after the development of metastatic disease.

It is important to ask your doctor about the goals of treatment. These goals may change during your care, depending on whether the cancer responds to the treatment. It is also important to know that pain, nausea, and other side effects can be managed with the help of your health care team. This is called palliative care and should be a part of any treatment plan. Research shows that palliative care can improve the quality of your life and help you feel more satisfied with the treatment you receive.

Learn more about palliative care , or supportive care. Clinical trials offer treatments that are not yet available to the public. A clinical trial might be the main treatment for metastases, or just one of the options.

The clinical trial treatment may or may not help. But even if it does not, it gives researchers information that could help future patients.

Learn more about clinical trials and talk with your health care team if you are interested in participating in one. When you live with cancer for many months or years, doctors often treat it like a chronic, or long-term, illness. Like someone with any chronic illness, such as diabetes or heart failure, treatment is important.

It is important to follow your treatment plan so it works as well as possible. You also need support for the physical, emotional, and social effects of living with cancer.

National Cancer Institute: Metastatic Cancer. These printable PDFs provide an introduction to metastasis, including symptoms, treatment options, terms to know, and questions to ask the doctor. Request Permissions. What is Metastasis? Approved by the Cancer. How metastases develop Metastases is the plural form of metastasis.

Any type of cancer can spread.