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Metastasis

Lymphatic detours for cancer

Nature volume 546, pages 609–610 (2017)Cite this article

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The growth factor MIDKINE, which is secreted by skin tumours called melanomas, stimulates the formation of lymphatic vessels at distant lymph nodes and organ sites, paving the way for metastatic cancer spread. See Letter p.676

Cancer cells often spread from their primary site into nearby draining lymph nodes, then disseminate to distant lymph nodes and specific organs. The growth of lymphatic vessels (a process called lymphangiogenesis) from the tumour into lymph nodes is thought by many to provide a conduit for this metastatic cancer spread. But whether removal of the first lymph node that a cancer infiltrates can improve patient survival is debatable1, leading researchers to question the role of tumour-induced lymphangiogenesis in metastasis. On page 676, Olmeda et al.2 demonstrate that lymphangiogenesis in and around skin cancers called melanomas and their nearest lymph nodes is not necessarily required for initial metastasis. Instead, the primary tumour can induce aberrant lymphangiogenesis in distant lymph nodes and organs, paving the way for cancer cells to follow.

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Figure 1: A previously undiscovered route to metastasis.

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  1. the Departments of Pediatrics, and of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, 10021, New York, USA

    Ayuko Hoshino & David Lyden

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  1. Ayuko Hoshino
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  2. David Lyden
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Correspondence to Ayuko Hoshino or David Lyden.

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Hoshino, A., Lyden, D. Lymphatic detours for cancer. Nature 546, 609–610 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/546609a

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