By Kaelyn DiMartino ’25
Cancer spreads when cancer cells break away from the original tumor and travel through your bloodstream to other parts of your body. This is often called metastasis. Certain cancers spread at different speeds. Since different cancers spread at different speeds, it’s important to know your genetic history and background which can help give you more information.
Cancer spreads when cancer cells travel and spread throughout your blood and lymph. “Lymph is a clear fluid that circulates through the body via the lymph system, a network of organs, tissues and vessels.” (“Metastasis: What is Metastatic Cancer? | CTCA | City of Hope”) Cancer cells must split/break away from the original tumor in order for the cells to get to the bloodstream and lymph system. The cancer cells usually break away from the tumor if the tumor starts invading tissues nearby or if the tumor starts to grow. The cancer cells can travel through different parts of your body and create a new tumor in that part of the body which is known as a secondary tumor.
One type of cancer is metastatic. There are two main places that metastatic cancer can spread to. Those would be called “Regional Metastasis” and “Distant Metastasis”. Regional Metastasis is when the cancer is spread to areas near the primary site. Distant Metastasis is when the cancer spreads to parts of the body that are further away. During metastasis, the cancer cells may spread into different tissues where the cancer orignally started, invade the walls of the nearby blood vessels and lymph nodes, supply new blood vessels for the new tumor so it grows, form a small tumor in the tissue, and invade small blood vessel walls and spreads into the tissue.
Cancer is a disease that results in uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. There are so many cancers and each and every one of them spreads at different rates. Cancer is a complex disease that can be very dangerous and affect different parts of your body. “The speed at which cancer spreads or progresses can vary depending on various factors, including the type of cancer, its location, size, and stage, among others.” (“What is the slowest spreading cancer?”)
Cancers spread at all different speeds; one of the slowest spreading cancers is called Carcinoid tumor. “Carcinoid tumors are cancerous, but have been called cancer in slow motion, because if you have a carcinoid tumor, you may have it for many years and never know it. In rare cases, usually after a carcinoid tumor has spread, it can cause symptoms called carcinoid syndrome.” (“Carcinoid Tumor”) Carcinoid tumors are super rare and fewer than 10% of people with them have symptoms. Since Carcinoid tumors are rare and super slow at spreading, most people don’t find out they have one until they are above the age of 55.
Carcinoid tumors can grow anywhere in the body where hormone-producing cells are present, but no one really knows the cause of this rare cancer. “ Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers that travel through your blood. Most carcinoid tumors form in the digestive (gastrointestinal) tract” (“Carcinoid Tumor”). Most Carcinoid Tumors are found in the stomach, liver, pancreas, small intestine, rectum, appendix, lungs, and colon. “The median volume doubling time of 13 typical PCTs was 977 days, or 2.7 years. Five atypical PCTs were followed longitudinally, with a median doubling time of 327 days, or 0.9 years.” (“Volume Doubling Time of Pulmonary Carcinoid Tumors Measured by Computed Tomography”) While slow- growing cancers may sound not as important and dangerous as fast-growing cancers, it’s good and important to know that each cancer is unique and different in each person’s body. Even though slow-spreading cancer seems harmless it can be deadly if not treated in time.
The fastest spreading cancer is liver cancer in terms of how many people get diagnosed with it. There are about 40,000 new cases reported yearly. “Hemangiosarcoma and Angiosarcoma types of livercancer are fast spreading, whereas hepatocellular carcinoma spreads late in the disease.” (Jacob) Hemangiosarcoma is a “Highly malignant cancer arising from cells that normally create blood vessels.” (“Home”) The cause of Hemangiosarcoma is unknown.
Angiosarcoma is a “rare cancer that develops in the innder lining of blood vessels and lymph vessels.”(“Angiosarcoma – NCI”) 1 in 1 million people get diagnosed with Angiosarcoma in the U.S yearly. Angiosarcoma are mostly common in elderly people around the age of 70.
Cancer is a genetic disease. “It is caused by changes in genes that control the way cells grow and multiply. Cells are the building blocks of your body. Each cell has a copy of your genes, which act like an instruction manual.” (“The Genetics of Cancer – NCI”).
Genes are parts of DNA that are instructed to make proteins. Scientists have found a ton of DNA and genetic changes form, grow, and spread. Cancer can occur cause of genetics because of “random mistakes in our DNA happen as our cells multiply, our DNA is altered by carcinogens in our environment, such as chemicals in tobacco smoke, UV rays from the sun, and the human papillomavirus (HPV), and they were inherited from one of our parents” (“The Genetics of Cancer – NCI”). DNA changes can happen throughout our lives and at any point in our lives. Most genetic changes arent harmful but an accumulation of genetic changes over time can turn healthy cells into cancerous cells.
One major question is “Is cancer Hereditary?” The answer is that cancer itself cannot be passed down from parent to child. There is, however, a genetic change that increases the risk of cancer that can be passed down if present in a parent’s egg or sperm. This is why cancer can be known to run in a family. “Up to 10% of all cancers may be caused by inherited genetic changes.” (“The Genetics of Cancer – NCI”) “Inheriting a cancer-related genetic change doesn’t mean you will definitely get cancer. It means that your risk of getting cancer is increased.” (“The Genetics of Cancer – NCI”)
There is something called ““Hereditary Cancer Syndrome” which is a rare disorder in which family members have a higher-than-average risk of developing a certain type or types of cancer.” (“The Genetics of Cancer – NCI”) “Hereditary Cancer Syndrome” is “caused by inherited genetic variants in certain cancer related genes.” (“The Genetics of Cancer – NCI”)
Cancer is a very mysterious disease that unfortunately millions of people have to go through. Cancer spreads when cancer cells break away and travel to more parts of the body which also causes different kinds of cancers depending on the body part. Cancer spreads at different speeds just like we know that the slowest- spreading cancer is the Carcinoid Tumor and the fastest- spreading cancer is Liver Cancer. Based on your genetic background, you can find out if the cancer is hereditary or not. Not all cancers are hereditary, but some can be. Cancer will have its mysterious ways and there might not be a cure for all cancers, but genetic background is a big help and can even help find the cancer in your body before it becomes a big deal so that you can take care of it beforehand. So, as you can see, it is important to remian healthy and go to annual doctor’s appointments to stay clear of cancer.
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