What action do cells take during local metastasis?

During local metastasis, cells primarily engage in the invasion of surrounding tissue. This process involves cancerous cells breaking away from the primary tumor and penetrating the adjacent healthy tissues. They achieve this through various mechanisms, such as altering their adhesion properties and secreting enzymes that break down extracellular matrix components, which facilitates their movement into neighboring areas.

Local metastasis is typically the initial step before cancer spreads to more distant sites. This differs from other processes such as bloodstream dissemination, where cancer cells travel through the vascular system, or the establishment of secondary tumors at distant sites, which denotes more advanced metastatic progression. Enhancing the immune response is not a direct action taken by cancer cells during metastasis, but rather a function of the body’s defenses that responds to the presence of cancer. This highlights the specific nature of local invasion in the context of metastasis.