© 2002 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 94, No. 6, 417-421,
March 20, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
COMMENTARY |
Intratumoral Lymphatic Vessels: A Case of Mistaken Identity or Malfunction?
Affiliation of authors: Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Correspondence to: Rakesh K. Jain, Ph.D., Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 100 Blossom Street, Cox-7, Boston, MA 02114 (e-mail: jain@steele.mgh.harvard.edu).
Metastasis is the major cause of mortality from malignant tumors. Metastatic cancer cells spread to various organs via the vascular system (hematogenic metastasis) and/or the lymphatic system (lymphogenic metastasis). Compared with our understanding of a tumor's vascular system, our understanding of its lymphatic system is minimal, although it has been known for some time that lymphatic vessels are present in the margins of animal and human tumors. Indeed, invasion of peritumor lymphatics is considered to be a poor prognostic factor for patients with some tumors (e.g., breast, colorectal, and endometrial cancers), and lymphatic metastasis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for others (e.g., melanoma, head and neck, lung, and cervical cancers; www.uptodate.com). For nearly a century, it has been a hotly debated issue whether anatomically defined lymphatic vessels are present within solid tumors (1) and, if so, whether they function (2) (Fig. 1
NOTES
REFERENCES
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. Hayashi, P. Jiang, K. Yamauchi, N. Yamamoto, H. Tsuchiya, K. Tomita, A.R. Moossa, M. Bouvet, and R. M. Hoffman Real-time Imaging of Tumor-Cell Shedding and Trafficking in Lymphatic Channels Cancer Res., September 1, 2007; 67(17): 8223 - 8228. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. R. Dreher and A. Chilkoti Toward a Systems Engineering Approach to Cancer Drug Delivery J Natl Cancer Inst, July 4, 2007; 99(13): 983 - 985. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. R. Dreher, W. Liu, C. R. Michelich, M. W. Dewhirst, and A. Chilkoti Thermal Cycling Enhances the Accumulation of a Temperature-Sensitive Biopolymer in Solid Tumors Cancer Res., May 1, 2007; 67(9): 4418 - 4424. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. R. Langley and I. J. Fidler Tumor Cell-Organ Microenvironment Interactions in the Pathogenesis of Cancer Metastasis Endocr. Rev., May 1, 2007; 28(3): 297 - 321. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. K. Jain, R. T. Tong, and L. L. Munn Effect of Vascular Normalization by Antiangiogenic Therapy on Interstitial Hypertension, Peritumor Edema, and Lymphatic Metastasis: Insights from a Mathematical Model Cancer Res., March 15, 2007; 67(6): 2729 - 2735. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Hagendoorn, R. Tong, D. Fukumura, Q. Lin, J. Lobo, T. P. Padera, L. Xu, R. Kucherlapati, and R. K. Jain Onset of abnormal blood and lymphatic vessel function and interstitial hypertension in early stages of carcinogenesis. Cancer Res., April 1, 2006; 66(7): 3360 - 3364. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. M. Stefansson, H. B. Salvesen, and L. A. Akslen Vascular proliferation is important for clinical progress of endometrial cancer. Cancer Res., March 15, 2006; 66(6): 3303 - 3309. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Juttner, C. Wissmann, T. Jons, M. Vieth, J. Hertel, S. Gretschel, P. M. Schlag, W. Kemmner, and M. Hocker Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-D and Its Receptor VEGFR-3: Two Novel Independent Prognostic Markers in Gastric Adenocarcinoma J. Clin. Oncol., January 10, 2006; 24(2): 228 - 240. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Z. Gombos, X. Xu, C. S. Chu, P. J. Zhang, and G. Acs Peritumoral Lymphatic Vessel Density and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C Expression in Early-Stage Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix Clin. Cancer Res., December 1, 2005; 11(23): 8364 - 8371. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Z. Chen, M. L. Varney, M. W. Backora, K. Cowan, J. C. Solheim, J. E. Talmadge, and R. K. Singh Down-Regulation of Vascular Endothelial Cell Growth Factor-C Expression Using Small Interfering RNA Vectors in Mammary Tumors Inhibits Tumor Lymphangiogenesis and Spontaneous Metastasis and Enhances Survival Cancer Res., October 1, 2005; 65(19): 9004 - 9011. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Bono, V.-M. Wasenius, P. Heikkila, J. Lundin, D. G. Jackson, and H. Joensuu High LYVE-1-Positive Lymphatic Vessel Numbers Are Associated with Poor Outcome in Breast Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., November 1, 2004; 10(21): 7144 - 7149. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
N. Isaka, T. P. Padera, J. Hagendoorn, D. Fukumura, and R. K. Jain Peritumor Lymphatics Induced by Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C Exhibit Abnormal Function Cancer Res., July 1, 2004; 64(13): 4400 - 4404. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M M Vleugel, R Bos, P van der Groep, A E Greijer, A Shvarts, H V Stel, E van der Wall, and P J van Diest Lack of lymphangiogenesis during breast carcinogenesis J. Clin. Pathol., July 1, 2004; 57(7): 746 - 751. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.-L. Su, J.-Y. Shih, M.-L. Yen, Y.-M. Jeng, C.-C. Chang, C.-Y. Hsieh, L.-H. Wei, P.-C. Yang, and M.-L. Kuo Cyclooxygenase-2 Induces EP1- and HER-2/Neu-Dependent Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C Up-Regulation: A Novel Mechanism of Lymphangiogenesis in Lung Adenocarcinoma Cancer Res., January 15, 2004; 64(2): 554 - 564. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. F. Dvorak How Tumors Make Bad Blood Vessels and Stroma Am. J. Pathol., June 1, 2003; 162(6): 1747 - 1757. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S.-M. Maula, M. Luukkaa, R. Grenman, D. Jackson, S. Jalkanen, and R. Ristamaki Intratumoral Lymphatics Are Essential for the Metastatic Spread and Prognosis in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck Region Cancer Res., April 15, 2003; 63(8): 1920 - 1926. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. F. Schoppmann, P. Birner, J. Stockl, R. Kalt, R. Ullrich, C. Caucig, E. Kriehuber, K. Nagy, K. Alitalo, and D. Kerjaschki Tumor-Associated Macrophages Express Lymphatic Endothelial Growth Factors and Are Related to Peritumoral Lymphangiogenesis Am. J. Pathol., September 1, 2002; 161(3): 947 - 956. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. P. Padera, A. Kadambi, E. di Tomaso, C. M. Carreira, E. B. Brown, Y. Boucher, N. C. Choi, D. Mathisen, J. Wain, E. J. Mark, et al. Lymphatic Metastasis in the Absence of Functional Intratumor Lymphatics Science, June 7, 2002; 296(5574): 1883 - 1886. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. K. Jain and T. P. Padera Prevention and Treatment of Lymphatic Metastasis by Antilymphangiogenic Therapy J Natl Cancer Inst, June 5, 2002; 94(11): 785 - 787. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R.K. JAIN Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis in Tumors: Insights from Intravital Microscopy Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol, January 1, 2002; 67(0): 239 - 248. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|