Anything that is not the location of the primary tumor is a metastasis of those cancer cells. The primary is often referred to as the "index tumor". It is possible to have a "second primary" coinciding with the index tumor, but in oral cancers that is unlikely. Secondary primaries, sometimes refer to the recurrence tumor at a date later than the original index tumor. The difference between local mets vs. distant mets is only an issue of time. A person with distant mets has a cancer which has progressed farther, and likely been in place longer. In breast cancer for instance, node involvement in the armpit is the most likely met from the primary cancer. It is the closest area to the breast where mets are characteristically found. In oral cancers the closest mets are usually to the neck or cervical nodes. In both cancers, STATISTICALLY, node involvement is correlated with poorer outcomes.