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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Quantification of Tumor Cell Adhesion in Lymph Node Cryosections
Published on: February 9, 2020
Lymphatic and blood vessels in male breast cancer
Joanna Niemiec1, Beata Sas-Korczynska2, Agnieszka Harazin-Lechowska3
1Department of Applied Radiobiology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Institute, Centre of Oncology, Kracow, Poland joanna@eikon.pl.
Background:
It is assumed that lymphatic vessels are responsible for breast cancer dissemination.
Patients And Methods:
In 32 male breast carcinomas we evaluated the correlation between: (i) lymphatic vessel density (LVD), distribution of podoplanin-immunostained vessels (DPV), blood vessel density (BVD), infiltration of immune cells and (ii) known clinicopathological parameters.
Results:
Lymphatic and blood vessels were found in 77.8% and 100% of breast carcinomas, respectively. Double-negative estrogen and progesterone receptor tumors (ER-/PR-) presented significantly higher LVD than ER/PR positive cases, while high-grade tumors exhibited significantly higher DPV than low-grade carcinomas. We detected significantly higher frequency of vascular invasion in high-grade and double-negative carcinomas than in low-grade and ER/PR-positive ones, respectively.
Conclusion:
The relationship between high number of lymphatic vessels and high tumor grade or steroid receptor negativity might confirm the hypothesis regarding the influence of lymphangiogenesis on the formation of a more aggressive phenotype in male breast cancer.
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