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Metastatic cancer to the lung - Overview

Alternative Names

Lung metastases

Definition of Metastatic cancer to the lung:

Metastatic cancer to the lung is cancer that starts somewhere else in the body and spreads to the lungs.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Metastatic tumors in the lungs are cancers that developed at other places in the body (or other parts of the lungs) and spread through the bloodstream or lymphatic system to the lungs. Common tumors that spread to the lungs include:

However, almost any cancer has the ability to spread to the lungs.

Reviewed last on: 6/2/2010
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Rusch VW. Lung metastases. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKenna WG. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008:chap 58.

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