lymphatic system

When a person diagnosis with cancer, doctor will remove the tumor (if possible), and remove the lymph nodes nearby the tumor as the same time. The removed lymph nodes will be inspected under microscope to determine whether cancer cells have been spread through lymphatic system.

Traditionally, the dotor would remove partically all lymph nodes near the tumor area (axillary lymph node dissection). However, the side affect of lymphedema. Therefore, Sentinel Node Analysis is developed to minimize the number of lymph node to be removed to determine malignancy. Sentinel node biopsy is currently used in melanoma, breast, colon, gastric, esophageal, head and neck, thyroid, and lung cancer. During Sentinel node biosy, doctor will inject a tracer substance around the tumor that will travel through the lymphatic system to the first draining (sentinel) node and identify it. The tracer substance may be blue dye that can be visually tracked or a radioactive colloid that can be radiologically followed. Then, the first few lymph nodes next to the tumor will be removed and analyzed for malignancy.

First, you must know how malignant cancer cells spread in our body. They spread by a process called metastasis(轉移). When there is a uncontrolled cancer cells in an organ such as liver, they will detach from its parent cell and then pass through the vessls' wall so that they can reach our circulating system. Once this reaches, it will flow through our blood vessels and reaches our blood capillary. Then it will pass through it and enters the lymph node. In here the T-cell and T-killer cell will try to kill and to supress its growth. However, it is in vain. And lymphadenopathy and lymphoma result. When it start to grow here, it will then detach again and spread through our body via our lymphatic system.

If the cancer cell is started in lymphatic system, the cell will spread through this system directly via lymphatic vessels inside our body.

I hope you know what I am talking about.