Quantifying Lymphatic Vessel Density in Human Tissue Samples

The development of new blood and lymphatic vessels, through the process of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, respectively, is critical to the development and growth of tumors, and integral to the process of metastasis. Lymphatic vessel density can be assessed as a surrogate measure of lymphangiogenesis in human tissue samples. Lymphatic vessel density has been shown to be associated with lymph node metastasis and patient survival in various solid tumor types. Here we describe a method for quantifying the number of lymphatic vessels within tumor tissue that can also be used to assess lymphatic vessel invasion, and compare with blood vessel density and invasion.