Cancerous cells enter blood system and move through blood-vessels to other organs and tissues. It may also enter lymphatic system and use it as a means of spread to other unaffected and healthy tissues. Such cancerous cells when having affected the tissue form a metastatic tumor. This tumor contains cells from the original tumor. That means that metastatic tumor in lungs, formed by cancerous cells from the breast, and is actually made up by cancerous cells from breast.

Cancer cells may migrate to almost all parts of the body. It depends on several factors like: the type of original cancer, its stage and extent, and location site of the cancer. Cancer cells often spread to lymph node near the original cancer site. This process is called lymph nodes involvement. Its alternative name is regional disease and it spreads not far form the primary cancer. Cancer that spreads to other organs, lymph nodes and tissues far from primary cancer site, is called metastatic cancer. Cancer cells spreading is almost uncontrolled, so they may invade and affect virtually any organ and tissue. Further metastasis description deals with the following: where cancer cells spread most often, symptoms of metastatic tumors and the most frequent types of metastatic cancer.

Metastasis description provides with the information n the organs which are more likely to be affected by metastatic cancer. Lung, liver, bones and brain are the most common sites affected by cancer cells spreading. For instance prostate cancer usually metastasizes in bones, breast cancer tends to spread to liver, lungs and bones, while lung cancer spreads to bones or brains. It should be noted that breast cancer may affect almost all parts of human body. As blood cells travel throughout the body, blood-vessel system is not affect by cancer cells and serves just as a means of transportation to them.

This metastasis description also includes symptoms of metastatic cancer. The most dangerous about metastatic cancer is that some people do not have any symptoms of metastatic cancer at all. Their metastases are detected by X-Ray or other tests. Metastatic cancer symptoms depend on the types of cancer and its extents. For instance, cancer spread to bones causes pain in bones and may result in bone fractures. Cancer, metastasized in brain, causes seizures, headaches. Breast cancer has the symptom of breath shortness. Sometimes it happens that a person's primary cancer is detected only after metastatic cancer has been discovered.

The full metastasis description ends up with types of metastatic cancer and provided treatments. As mentioned above, spreading of cancer cells may affect almost any part of human body, i.e. any healthy tissue or organ. The most frequent types are: metastatic cancer of brain, lungs, liver, breasts, abdomen or bones. Depending on the cancer type and its extent different ways of treatment are applied. The treatment might be accomplished by surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Hormone therapy and cryotherapy are also widely used. Sometimes the combination of the mentioned above methods are applied.