Anton Bilchik MD Explains Metastatic Cancer

As a cancer surgeon, Dr. Anton Bilchik saves lives by removing cancer before it has a chance to spread, a process known as metastasis. Dr. Bilchik explains metastasis to his patients, and now he would like to discuss this serious complication of cancer with you.

Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from its original location to other parts of the body. The most common sites for metastasis are, in alphabetical order, to the bone, liver, and lungs. Although cancer can spread to anywhere in the body, certain types of cancers seem to spread to particular parts of the body. For example, cancer of the pancreas tends to metastasize most frequently to the liver, lungs, and the membrane that lines the inside of the abdominal cavity, the peritoneum. Skin cancer, on the other hand, spreads most often to the bones, brain, liver, lungs, skin and muscles.

A metastatic tumor is one that has formed as the result of metastasis. Almost all types of cancers can metastasize to cause tumors elsewhere in the body. Metastatic tumors have the same name as tumors in the original location. For example, when liver cancer spreads to the lungs, doctors will still refer to the tumors in the lungs as liver cancer.  This is for a good reason – under a microscope, the metastatic cancer cells resemble the cells of the original cancer. The metastatic cancer cells also share many of the same physiologic properties as cells of the original cancer, such as the way protein behaves or specific changes in chromosomes.

Some types of metastatic cancers are curable with currently available treatments, but most are not. Despite the low probability of cure, all patients with metastasis deserve treatment to control the growth of cancer or to relieve symptoms. In some cases, treatment can even prolong life.