Lymph Node Metastases in Papillary and Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Are Independent of Intratumoral Lymphatic Vessel Density.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Blood and lymph vessel invasion are well-recognized markers of tumor aggressiveness, as these are the routes that lead to metastases. Thyroid tumors, depending on the histological variant, tend to have distinctive biological behaviors and use different vascular routes to metastasize, yet the mechanisms underlying the metastatic process are still poorly understood.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to assess how the lymph vessel density (LVD) in different histological types of thyroid tumors, and in their surrounding tissue, correlate with the presence of lymph node metastases (LNM) and tumor pathological features.

Methods

Lymph vessels of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), of the classical (CVPTC, n = 50) and follicular variants (FVPTC, n

SUBMITTER: Pereira F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5422756 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature