Lymphovascular invasion (LVI or lymphovascular space invasion) is the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

of a

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

to the

blood vessel Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many Animal, animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the Tissue (biology), tissues of a Body (bi ...

s and/or

lymphatics The lymphatic vessels (or lymph vessels or lymphatics) are thin-walled vessels (tubes), structured like blood vessels, that carry lymph. As part of the lymphatic system, lymph vessels are complementary to the cardiovascular system. Lymph vessel ...

Terminology

Lymph: A clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean. Vascular: The body's network of blood vessels. When cancer spreads to lymph and vascular system, it is thus termed as ''Lymphovascular Invasion.''

Pathology

Lymphovascular invasion, especially in

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesoder ...

s, usually precedes spread to the lymph nodes that drain the tissue in which the tumour arose. Conversely, cancers with lymph node spread (known as a lymph node metastases), usually have lymphovascular invasion. Lymph node metastases usually precede secondary tumours, i.e. distant

metastases Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

. The absence of LVI in the context of proven lymph node metastasis is usually thought to be due to

sampling error In statistics, sampling errors are incurred when the statistical characteristics of a population are estimated from a subset, or sample, of that population. Since the sample does not include all members of the population, statistics of the sample ...

Prognostic significance

The predictive value and prevalence of lymphovascular invasion is strongly dependent on the type of cancer. In other words, LVI in one type of cancer may be much less important than LVI in another type of cancer. Generally speaking, it is associated with lymph node metastases which themselves are predictive of a poorer

prognosis Prognosis ( Greek: πρόγνωσις "fore-knowing, foreseeing"; : prognoses) is a medical term for predicting the likelihood or expected development of a disease, including whether the signs and symptoms will improve or worsen (and how quickly) ...

. In the context of (

histologically Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

) proven lymph node metastases, LVI may have less prognostic significance or no prognostic significance.

Breast cancer

Histopathology of lymphatic invasion by invasive ductal carcinoma

Whether LVI is a significant prognostic factor in breast cancer is widely debated, and there is no clear consensus.

Urothelial carcinoma

urothelial carcinoma Transitional epithelium is a type of stratified epithelium. Transitional epithelium is a type of tissue that changes shape in response to stretching (stretchable epithelium). The transitional epithelium usually appears cuboidal when relaxed and ...

, LVI is an independent predictor of a poorer prognosis that has more predictive power than tumour stage.

Colorectal cancer

In sporadic

colorectal carcinoma Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

, LVI of a poorer prognosis.

References

{{reflist, 30em Cancer pathology Oncology