A TED-Ed Lesson Explaining the Three Most Common Routes of Cancer Metastasis

In the TED-Ed lesson “How does cancer spread through the body?,” animated by Andrew Foerster and narrated by Addison Anderson, educator Ivan Seah Yu Jun (previously) explains how cancer moves through the body by taking one of three common routes in order to metastasize and how certain organs become more susceptible to these malignant cells depending on the route the cancer takes.

Cancer usually begins with one tumor in a specific area of the body. But if the tumor is not removed, cancer has the ability to spread to nearby organs as well as places far away from the origin, like the brain. How does cancer move to these new areas and why are some organs more likely to get infected than others?

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.