Metastasis
1. The process by which cancer spreads from the place at which it first arose as a primary tumor to distant locations in the body.
2. The cancer resulting from the spread of the primary tumor. For example, someone with melanoma may have a metastasis in their brain. And a person with colon cancer may, fortunately, show no metastases.
Metastasis depends on the cancer cells acquiring two separate abilities — increased motility and invasiveness. Cells that metastasize are basically of the same kind as those in the original tumor. If a cancer arises in the lung and metastasizes to the liver, the cancer cells in the liver are lung cancer cells. However, the cells have acquired increased motility and the ability to invade another organ.
The ancient Greeks used the word metastasis to mean “removal from one place to another.” The plural of “metastasis” is “metastases.”
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- Metastasize
The spread from one part of the body to another. When cancer cells metastasize and cause secondary tumors, the cells in the metastatic tumor are like those in the original cancer.
- Metatarsal
One of the five cylindrical bones that extend from the heel to the toes.
- Metatarsals
Five cylindrical bones extending from the heel (the tarsus) to the toes. The metatarsals are numbered from the inside out, so the first metatarsal extends to the big toe.
- Metatarsophalangeal
Referring to both the metatarsus and the phalanges of the toes.
- Metatarsophalangeal joint sprain
An injury to the big toe due to forced hyperextension (bending back) of the toe. The damage is to the capsule of the first metatarsophalangeal joint and to the ligaments that connect the big toe to the foot. The big toe is painful, tender and swollen. Treatment is with icing, rest and anti-inflammatory medication. Taping […]