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Article: What is Metastatic Cancer?

What is metastatic cancer? “My dad had prostate cancer years ago.  During his yearly check up, one of his blood levels came back abnormal.  His doctor ord...
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What is metastatic cancer?

“My dad had prostate cancer years ago.  During his yearly check up, one of his blood levels came back abnormal.  His doctor ordered a CAT scan and a bone scan, which came back showing cancer in his bones.  Does he have bone cancer? How long can he live with this?”

A person who has had a diagnosis of cancer at a specific site, such as the prostate, has prostate cancer.  If that cancer comes back in organs or sites that are distant from the original location of the cancer, the person then has what is called metastatic cancer.  The word metastasis comes from the Greek word meaning displacement– meta meaning “next” and stasis meaning “placement.” The original cancer cells have traveled through the blood stream and deposited into the “next placement,” the bone or other sites.

When reviewing the two most common cancers, breast cancer and prostate cancer, studies show that those patients with metastasis only to the bone can live a long time; some can even live decades.  Patients with bone metastasis may or may not experience pain. However, radiation is of benefit regardless.  Radiation therapy can be used to help relieve the pain symptoms of bone metastasis but also to aid in preventing the tumor from growing further.

Other cancers, such as lung cancer, stomach cancer, and pancreatic cancer can spread to the bones; but they usually spread to other organs, for instance, the liver.  When this happens, patients do not usually do well and are often told they have six months or less to live.  When given this type of diagnosis, the doctor may recommend hospice care. Hospice care is specialized care for people with a life-limiting prognosis.  Hospice can help with pain management and symptom control so that a person may live the last days of life fully, with dignity and comfort, at home or in a home-like setting.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Gast.
You can email Dr. Gast your questions about cancer to:kvann@fsro.net

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