Metastatic (Spread) Cancers
Introduction
When a tumor has spread from the place that it first began (like the breast or the lung) to other places like the bones or the brain, this is called metastatic cancer. Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body like the bones can cause pain and discomfort. When cancers have spread to the brain, they can cause neurologic problems like headache, visual changes, muscle weakness, or loss of sensation.
Causes
It is unclear what makes cancers spread to other parts of the body. This remains an active area of research for cancer investigators.
Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis
Sometimes the first symptom of a cancer is pain and a site of spread cancer. For instance, a patient may have back pain only to later find out that he had prostate cancer initially which had then spread to the bones in his spine.
Before an oncologist will treat a patient, he may order a biopsy to verify spread cancer in that site. Additional imaging studies like MRI or PET scan may also help your oncology team to better target sites of spread cancer.
Treatment Strategies
When cancer has spread from its initial site to many distant metastatic sites, often the most important treatment is systemic therapy (i.e. chemotherapy). Medicines that go all over the body can target all sites of metastatic disease.
For sites of spread of cancer which are painful, a short course of radiation therapy may deliver much relief. Ask your oncology team if a short course of radiation therapy may help relieve your cancer pain.
Prognosis and prognostic factors
Each patient has a unique cancer type and stage with different underlying risk factors. During a oncology consultation visit, ask your doctor about what to expect with treatment.
While most metastatic cancers are considered incurable, that does not mean that they are not treatable. Patients with metastatic cancer can live many additional months, or even years, depending on their cancer type and the treatments available to them.
Treatment Side Effects
Radiation treatment side effects tend to affect the tissues that are close to the tumor where the radiation is directed. Some side effects can be more pronounced during and shortly after radiation treatment (acute side effects). While other side effects may occur many months or years after treatment (chronic or late side effects).
Ask your radiation oncologist what to expect from your specific treatment.