Lymphatic vessels promote the spread of cancer

Twenty-six research groups from the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, the University of Zurich (UZH) and the University Hospital Zurich are participating in the research initiative Skintegrity, which sees them combine their specialist knowledge on medical issues related to skin.

For instance, their research on the role that lymphatic vessels play in promoting the spread of cancer came from their work on skin cancer. But the results also hold true for breast cancer.

According to an ETH Zurich press release, the Zurich researchers have discovered that lymphatic vessels play an important role in spreading cancer cells from organ to organ.

“For the first time, we were able to show that the lymphatic vessels can promote the spread of cancer not only in primary tumours, but also when the cancer has already spread to distant organs of the body,” said Qiaoli Ma, a doctoral student at ETH Zurich and primary author of the study published.

The researchers determined that the probability that metastatic tumours spread from organ to organ correlated with the density and growth of lymphatic vessels in the metastasized lung, for example. Even tumour cells in distant organs used the lymphatic vessels to grow.

“With the help of mouse models with increased density of lymphatic vessels in the lung, we found that in both skin and breast cancer, more metastatic tumours were found in the lung and its draining lymph nodes, and that there was a correlation between the growth of lymphatic vessels in lung metastases and a greater spread to other organs,” explained Qiaoli Ma.

According to ETH Zurich, the density of the lymphatic vessels can therefore be used to predict the course of advanced cancer. This also opens the door to a possible therapy approach in the future.

“Recent research results suggest that a higher density of lymphatic vessels makes it more difficult for the immune system to eliminate tumours,” said Michael Detmar, head of the research team of which Ma is a member.

“The suppression of the function of the lymphatic vessels could possible contribute to the treatment of cancer.”