metastasis
n.n. the process by which cancer cells spread from the place where they started to other parts of the body. This is a serious stage of cancer that is harder to treat.
n. the process by which cancer cells spread from the primary site of origin to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or lymphatic system.
Doctors are monitoring the patient for any signs of metastasis.
The presence of metastasis in the lungs indicates that the cancer has progressed beyond the initial tumor site.
Early detection of metastasis is critical for determining the most effective treatment strategy, as the prognosis for patients with widespread disease is significantly different from those with localized tumors.
Learned borrowing from Late Latin metastasis (“(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, or topic to another”), and from its etymons Koine Greek μετάστασις (metástasis, “(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, or topic to another”) and Ancient Greek μετάστασις (metástasis, “change; removal; (medicine) movement of disease, pain, etc., from one part of the body to another”), from μετᾰ- (metă-, prefix denoting change in condition or position) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European meth₂) + στᾰ́σῐς (stắsĭs, “condition, state; position”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)), modelled after μεθιστάναι (methistánai, “to change; to remove”). By surface analysis, meta- + stasis. In reference to the spread of cancer, a semantic loan from French métastase, whose use to refer to it was coined in 1829 by the French gynecologist Joseph Récamier (1774–1852). The plural form metastases is a learned borrowing from Late Latin metastases.