Introduction: The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins, waste, and other unwanted substances. The primary function of the lymphatic system is to transport lymph, a fluid containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body.
For this post, you will:
- Pick an organ and explain which lymph node region would be most likely, if any, for primary cancer in that organ to show lymph node involvement.
- Relate one part of the anatomy of a lymph node to the potential for a cancer cell from your organ to be recognized by a white blood cell. Anatomical parts of the lymph node include: numbers of specific types of white blood cells, amount or type of connective tissue fibers, trabeculae, numbers of afferent or efferent vessels, sinuses, nodules, lymph presence.
- In addition to lymph nodes, the lymphatic system also has many vessels (from smaller collecting vessels through ducts) and other lymphoid tissues (e.g., MALT, tonsils, thymus, spleen). Pick one of these. If you picked a lymphatic vessel, compare it to an analogous blood vessel (provide the name of the blood vessel, for example, the jugular vein or an arteriole) anatomically. If you picked a lymphoid tissue, compare its structure to a lymph node.