title: The role of lymphangiogenesis in lymphatic tumour spread of urological cancers.
abstract: Metastases to regional lymph nodes are a common early event in many malignant diseases and have a poor prognosis, including in urological cancers. Molecular pathways contributing to lymphatic tumour dissemination and lymph node metastasis remain poorly understood. Besides the process of lymphovascular invasion (LVI), recent studies suggested de novo lymphatic vessel formation (i.e. lymphangiogenesis) as a potential mechanism of lymphatic tumour spread. Specific markers for lymphatic endothelium have recently been discovered, enabling basic morphological studies on lymphatic vessel density. There is a gap in the knowledge of the functional relationship between tumoral lymphatic vessels, LVI, lymphangiogenesis and the formation of lymph node metastases. The identification of lymph-specific growth factors (e.g. vascular endothelial growth factor-C and -D) as promoters of lymphatic metastasis has resulted in the interesting idea of targeting the pathways involved in lymphatic tumour progression. We summarize preliminary evidence on the role of lymphangiogenesis during the formation of lymphatic metastasis in the most common urological cancers.
authors: Department of Urology, Mannheim Medical Center, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Bolenz
authors: Mario I
authors: MI
authors: Fernández
authors: Derya
authors: D
authors: Tilki
authors: Edwin
authors: E
authors: Herrmann
authors: Julia
authors: J
authors: Heinzelbecker
authors: Süleyman
authors: S
authors: Ergün
authors: Philipp
authors: P
authors: Ströbel
authors: Oliver
authors: O
authors: Reich
authors: Maurice S
authors: MS
authors: Michel
authors: Lutz
authors: L
authors: Trojan
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D042583:Lymphangiogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology*; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D014565:Urogenital Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*