2006-07-18 05:29:18 · 3 answers · asked by WHITNEY R 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Infectious Diseases
The term means "change of position" as was observed in ancient medicine. Tumors grow in place, and produce most of their effects by enlarging from the primary or main tumor. But some tumors will produce separate tumors at a distance in the body, little clones of the primary tumor and not connected to it- these are metastses.
The scientific study of metastasis, which we understand now is a tendency of particular tumors to settle separate satellite tumors in particular organs, began with the "seed and soil" theory of Steven Paget in 1889: he noted that particular primay tumors had a tendency to metastasize to particular tissues- for instance colon cancer tended to have metastasis in the liver, but stomach cancer in the uterus, and prostate cancer tended to metastasize to bone.
2006-07-19 15:23:59 · answer #1 · answered by hobo_chang_bao 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a greek word meaning change of the state.
Wikipedia:
Metastasis (Greek: change of the state) is the spread of cancer from its primary site to other places in the body (e.g., brain, liver).
2006-07-18 12:34:42 · answer #2 · answered by sleekfeline 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Greek, from methistanai, to change : meta-, meta- + histanai, to cause to stand, place; see st- in Indo-European Roots.
2006-07-18 12:33:28 · answer #3 · answered by kevinngunn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋