Lets say someone goes to the doctor: The doctor sees tumors in the lungs and in the liver. Why does the doctor know that its liver cancer that spread to the lungs and not lung cancer that spread to the liver?

Question

Lets say someone goes to the doctor: The doctor sees tumors in the lungs and in the liver. Why does the doctor know that its liver cancer that spread to the lungs and not lung cancer that spread to the liver?

In: 1592

Answer 1

Questions is a bit off, If there is cancer in the lungs and liver, its unlikely from either of those organs. But i think i get u

Once cells lose their regulatory settings, and end up dividing endlessly (cancer), to the point that they spread around the body (metastatic), the cell no longer looks like what it started as

So if it was a liver cell that became cancer, and traveled to the lung, and they took a piece of that tissue(biopsy), it doesnt look like a liver cell

sometimes sequencing or biochemical assay can determine the origin (IHC) but sometimes the cell is so deranged that its a mystery