Metastasis

Metastasis, or metastatic disease, is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. The new occurrences of disease thus generated are referred to as metastases (sometimes abbreviated mets) It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research. In origin metastasis is a Greek word meaning "displacement", from μετά, meta, "next", and στάσις, stasis, "placement". The plural is metastases.