Spread (Metastasis) of Cancer of Maxillary Sinus & Paranasal Sinuses
Cancer cells never restrict themselves to an area; they may travel to far and distant places! This is termed metastasis.
This can be by different routes:
- Tissue: The cancer starts to invade the adjacent normal tissue
- Lymphatic system: Lymph vessels (these are tubes that carry lymph and white blood cells) to other parts of the body may serve as carriers of cancer cells.
- Blood: Cancer cells invade veins, capillaries and reach different areas.
Organs like lungs may even become the destination for these cells. Hence the importance of chest x-rays. The term used for involvement of distant organs and tissues is ‘secondary tumour’. This happens in the advanced stages of a cancer.
