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.

---

Other Word Forms

• metastatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of metastatic

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

Example Sentences

She says cancer will eventually advance in about 60% of metastatic patients who are on a first-line anti-PD-1 drug.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

The drug, daraxonrasib, showed improvements in survival and success compared with standard-of-care cytotoxic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who had been previously treated.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

The study also showed that KLF5 regulates other genes, including NCAPD2 and MTHFD1, but only in metastatic pancreatic cancer cells, not in primary tumor cells grown in the lab.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

Anktiva, in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor, received accelerated approval in Saudi Arabia earlier this year for the treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 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