metastasis
Americannoun
plural
metastases-
Pathology.
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the transference of disease-producing organisms or of malignant or cancerous cells to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.
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the condition produced by this.
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Rhetoric. a rapid transition, as from one subject to another.
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Physics. a change in position or orbit of an elementary particle.
noun
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pathol the spreading of a disease, esp cancer cells, from one part of the body to another
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a transformation or change, as in rhetoric, from one point to another
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a rare word for metabolism
Other Word Forms
- metastatic adjective
- metastatically adverb
Etymology
Origin of metastasis
First recorded in 1580–90, metastasis is from the Greek word metástasis “a changing”; meta-, stasis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A major validation of this approach came from a melanoma trial that delivered results few expected: a 49% reduction in cancer recurrence and a 62% reduction in deadly distant metastases.
Although this difference was not statistically significant, those treated with pembrolizumab had a 42% lower chance of developing distant metastases, meaning cancer that spread to areas such as the liver, lungs, or bones.
From Science Daily
"By building the right immune infrastructure inside tumors, we can potentiate the patient's own defenses -- both T cell and B cell arms -- against cancer growth, relapse, and metastasis."
From Science Daily
When the mice were systemically exposed to melanoma cells to mimic metastasis, none of the nanoparticle-vaccinated mice developed lung tumors, while every other mouse did.
From Science Daily
He had head and neck metastatic cancer, and he ultimately succumbed to lung metastasis, according to CNN, which obtained a cremation approval summary report from the medical examiner’s office in Pinellas County, Florida.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
