For now, the only sure way to keep a cancer from spreading is to find it before it has spread cure it with surgery, radiation, and/or drugs. There are tests that can find certain cancers early (breast, colon and rectum, and cervix). But many people don't know about these tests or don't have them. Also, some cancers cannot easily be found early. These cancers have often spread to other parts of the body before they are found.

Researchers are looking at ways to keep cancers from spreading. For people who already have cancer, researchers are studying ways to prevent mets. For example, they are looking at drugs that might block the enzymes that help cancer cells break through the walls of blood vessels to travel to other parts of the body. Other drugs, like bisphosphonates, might slow the growth of bone mets or even keep them from starting.

Last Medical Review: 03/20/2007
Last Revised: 05/06/2009