metastatic

American  

[met-uh-stat-ik] / ˌmɛt əˈstæt ɪk /

adjective

1. Pathology. of, relating to, or resulting from metastasis, the transference of disease-producing organisms or malignant or cancerous cells to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.

   These blood vessels supply the tumor with nutrients and facilitate its metastatic spread.

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Other Word Forms

• metastatically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of metastatic

First recorded in 1760–70; metasta(sis) ( def. ) + -tic ( def. )

Example Sentences

They said this was a promising time for treating metastatic melanoma.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

I’ve been reading with horror about the Food and Drug Administration’s recent rejection of Replimune RP1 injection, one of the most promising drugs to fight metastatic melanoma in recent years.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

Bourla teased upcoming updates for Braftovi, a treatment targeting a specific mutation found in about 10% of metastatic colon cancer cases.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

"In cancer, for instance, you want to understand how the interaction of cells may relate to some of them breaking away from a tumor and moving to a new place, becoming metastatic."

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026

One woman with the BRCA1 mutation might develop an aggressive, metastatic variant of breast cancer at age thirty.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee