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

‘I want it to be useful,’ says former Sen. Ben Sasse, diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer last year at age 54.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

“In our opinion, increasing clinical trends that support Stage IV as metastatic and Stage III as ‘earlier stage’ cancer suggests the test’s performance in Stage IV cancer could bear meaningful weight,” he said.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

In these metastatic tumors, IL-10-negative Treg cells greatly outnumbered the helpful IL-10-positive cells.

From Science Daily • Feb. 6, 2026

Molly, from Gourock, was 15 in 2018 when she was diagnosed with a type of cancer called metastatic Ewings Sarcoma.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 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