Lymphatic vessels in tumor dissemination vs. immunotherapy

Abstract

During the growth of various cancers, primary tumors can escape anti-tumor immune responses of their host and eventually disseminate into distant organs. Peritumoral lymphatic vessels connect the primary tumor to lymph nodes, facilitating tumor entry into lymph nodes, systemic circulation, and metastasis. Lymph node metastases that occur frequently provide sites of tumor cell spread, whereas tumor antigen transfer into and presentation in tumor-draining lymph nodes induce activation of tumor-specific T-lymphocyte responses that can result in cytolytic targeting of the tumor. Here we discuss the recently emerged controversial role of the lymphatic vessels in tumor dissemination and cancer immunotherapy.