› Forums › General Melanoma Community › I should know the answer to this…
- This topic has 12 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by
dvd.
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:18 pm
I am Stage 3 dx Jan 2015, CLND right axillary Feb 2015, 17 nodes removed with 5 positive plus matting, unknown primary. I'm doing great now and NED since the surgery.
My question is about the term "metastatic". I've signed up for WhatsNext, and periodically get invitations to participate in surveys. Some of them indicate that they are for Stage 3 or 4 metastatic melanoma patients, but I'm confused about the "metastatic" part. I've only ever heard the term applied to Stage 4 patients, it there such a thing as metastatic Stage 3? Or is WhatsNext not correct?
I really couldn't care less about the surveys, this is just a question that has rolled around in my head for a little while…more out of curiosity than anything else. "Metastatic" only refers to Stage 4, correct?
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:41 pm
If melanoma has moved anywhere from its original primary (exception when the primary is unknown) to any other part of the body…it is metastatic.
Perhaps this will help: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/understandingyourdiagnosis/advancedcancer/advanced-cancer-what-is-metastatic
c
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:41 pm
If melanoma has moved anywhere from its original primary (exception when the primary is unknown) to any other part of the body…it is metastatic.
Perhaps this will help: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/understandingyourdiagnosis/advancedcancer/advanced-cancer-what-is-metastatic
c
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:41 pm
If melanoma has moved anywhere from its original primary (exception when the primary is unknown) to any other part of the body…it is metastatic.
Perhaps this will help: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/understandingyourdiagnosis/advancedcancer/advanced-cancer-what-is-metastatic
c
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:50 pm
From NCI:
"Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body. A tumor formed by metastatic cancer cells is called a metastatic tumor or a metastasis. The process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body is also called metastasis.
Metastatic cancer has the same name and the same type of cancer cells as the original, or primary, cancer. For example, breast cancer that spreads to the lung and forms a metastatic tumor is metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer."
By that definition stage III can by metastatic. In my case my primary was on my left chest and it later spread (metastasized) to my left axillary. In your case with an unknown primary it's not as clear cut in my mind but I guess you have to take the leap that it started somewhere else and metastasized to your right axillary.
Brian
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- May 13, 2016 at 3:27 pm
Like many things in medicine, there can be different interpretations. Definitions of "metastatic" often refer to development of tumors in "different body areas" from the primary. If the primary lesion is, for example, on the scalp and a tumor develops in a neck lymph node, some will define this as "extension" of the primary rather than a metastasis since it is in the lymphatic drainage area of the scalp and not really a different body area. Similarly, Brian's situation would be called "extension" by some, not "metastatic." Without a definite primary lesion things are even more vague. This, obviously, affects the staging and, potentially, the availability of treatment options. It's not all black & white, there are some grey areas open to interpretation.
dvd
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- May 13, 2016 at 3:27 pm
Like many things in medicine, there can be different interpretations. Definitions of "metastatic" often refer to development of tumors in "different body areas" from the primary. If the primary lesion is, for example, on the scalp and a tumor develops in a neck lymph node, some will define this as "extension" of the primary rather than a metastasis since it is in the lymphatic drainage area of the scalp and not really a different body area. Similarly, Brian's situation would be called "extension" by some, not "metastatic." Without a definite primary lesion things are even more vague. This, obviously, affects the staging and, potentially, the availability of treatment options. It's not all black & white, there are some grey areas open to interpretation.
dvd
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- May 13, 2016 at 3:27 pm
Like many things in medicine, there can be different interpretations. Definitions of "metastatic" often refer to development of tumors in "different body areas" from the primary. If the primary lesion is, for example, on the scalp and a tumor develops in a neck lymph node, some will define this as "extension" of the primary rather than a metastasis since it is in the lymphatic drainage area of the scalp and not really a different body area. Similarly, Brian's situation would be called "extension" by some, not "metastatic." Without a definite primary lesion things are even more vague. This, obviously, affects the staging and, potentially, the availability of treatment options. It's not all black & white, there are some grey areas open to interpretation.
dvd
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:50 pm
From NCI:
"Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body. A tumor formed by metastatic cancer cells is called a metastatic tumor or a metastasis. The process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body is also called metastasis.
Metastatic cancer has the same name and the same type of cancer cells as the original, or primary, cancer. For example, breast cancer that spreads to the lung and forms a metastatic tumor is metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer."
By that definition stage III can by metastatic. In my case my primary was on my left chest and it later spread (metastasized) to my left axillary. In your case with an unknown primary it's not as clear cut in my mind but I guess you have to take the leap that it started somewhere else and metastasized to your right axillary.
Brian
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- May 13, 2016 at 2:50 pm
From NCI:
"Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body. A tumor formed by metastatic cancer cells is called a metastatic tumor or a metastasis. The process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body is also called metastasis.
Metastatic cancer has the same name and the same type of cancer cells as the original, or primary, cancer. For example, breast cancer that spreads to the lung and forms a metastatic tumor is metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer."
By that definition stage III can by metastatic. In my case my primary was on my left chest and it later spread (metastasized) to my left axillary. In your case with an unknown primary it's not as clear cut in my mind but I guess you have to take the leap that it started somewhere else and metastasized to your right axillary.
Brian
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