A patient is admitted to the hospital after a metastatic tumor was found in their liver. The patient asks whether a person can have a metastatic tumor without having primary cancer. Which of the following statements is correct?

Explanation

• In most cases, when a metastatic tumor is found first, the primary cancer can also be found. This is because it is always caused by cancer cells from another part of the body.

• The pathologist knows that the diagnosed tumor is a metastasis because the cells do not look like those of the organ or tissue in which the tumor was found. 

• It is correct to say that searching for the primary cancer involves lab tests and diagnostic exams, but this statement does not address the question of whether a metastatic tumor can exist without a primary cancer. The other options are inaccurate statements.

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