Lymph: A clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean.
Vascular: The body's network of blood vessels.
When cancer spreads to lymph and vascular system, it is thus termed as Lymphovascular Invasion.
Pathology
Lymphovascular invasion, especially in carcinomas, usually precedes spread to the lymph nodes that drain the tissue in which the tumour arose. Conversely, cancers with lymph node spread (known as a lymph node metastases), usually have lymphovascular invasion. Lymph node metastases usually precede secondary tumours, i.e. distant metastases.
The absence of LVI in the context of proven lymph node metastasis is usually thought to be due to sampling error.[1]
Prognostic significance
The predictive value and prevalence of lymphovascular invasion is strongly dependent on the type of cancer. In other words, LVI in one type of cancer may be much less important than LVI in another type of cancer.
Generally speaking, it is associated with lymph node metastases[2][3] which themselves are predictive of a poorer prognosis.[4] In the context of (histologically) proven lymph node metastases, LVI may have less prognostic significance or no prognostic significance.
^Fang WL, Chang SC, Lin JK, Wang HS, Yang SH, Jiang JK, Chen WC, Lin TC (2005). "Metastatic potential in T1 and T2 colorectal cancer". Hepatogastroenterology. 52 (66): 1688–91. PMID16334758.
^Moreira LF, Kenmotsu M, Gochi A, Tanaka N, Orita K (1999). "Lymphovascular and neural invasion in low-lying rectal carcinoma". Cancer Detect. Prev. 23 (2): 123–8. doi:10.1046/j.1525-1500.1999.09908.x. PMID10101593.
