A characteristic sign of severe, stage 4 cancer of the breast, liver, lungs and other types
oncological diseases – this is the appearance of metastases. They are secondary foci of malignant neoplasms, which are formed from mutated cells transported with the blood or lymph flow to another organ or tissue.
Circulating cancer cells can remain in organs for a certain time in an inactive, “dormant” state. Under the influence of various unfavorable factors, over time they begin to actively multiply and form secondary foci of the primary tumor - distant metastases in the liver, lungs, lymph nodes and other parts of the body. As a result, the normal structure and functioning of vital organs is disrupted, severe pain appears, and the result is the same - death.
The relationship between “metastasis and cancer grade” is direct. The development of the metastatic process depends on the stage of oncological pathology. Namely:
Stage I - the malignant neoplasm is only a few centimeters in diameter, there are no external manifestations or secondary lesions.
Stage II – the size of the tumor exceeds 2 centimeters, clinical manifestations are pronounced, and a single metastasis, as a rule, develops in a nearby lymph node without affecting other organs and tissues.
Stage III - the malignant tumor grows, and the process of metastasis intensifies, which is why multiple foci of secondary damage appear in nearby lymph nodes.
Stage IV cancer with metastases is a terminal, severe degree of oncopathology that is practically untreatable. The tumor can be of any size, but metastatic foci develop in other internal organs.
Thus, the formation of almost every type of malignant tumor is accompanied by the development of pathologies such as metastases. The stage of cancer can be third or fourth, not lower.
All types of secondary pathology go through identical stages of formation:
Intravasation: The malignant cell invades the blood or lymphatic vessels.
Dissemination: circulation of tumor cells throughout the body through the blood or lymph.
Extravasation: penetration of pathology into the perivascular space (organs and tissues).
Development of a secondary lesion.
The above classification can be designated as metastasis stages, although this is not entirely correct. All secondary neoplasms follow the same path and differ only in size and location.